female 30 male 34 So this is something I’ve been noticing and it’s kinda weird and confusing. When my partner is close to me, I suddenly become really dramatic and almost… helpless? Like I go quiet, I let him spoil me, I lean into this soft, dependent version of myself. It’s not fake—it genuinely feels like that’s just how I am around him.
But then, here’s the kicker: when we go to the gym together, I physically feel like I can’t work out next to him. Like I get legit pain, I want to stop everything, I don’t want to push myself at all. The second he walks away and I don’t see him—boom, I can finish my workout no problem. It’s like my body reacts to his presence in such a strange way.
Anyone else experience this? Is this a nervous system thing? Attachment style? Just me being dramatic for real?
Comments
Honestly, this doesn’t sound dramatic, it sounds like your nervous system is reacting to feeling safe and vulnerable around him. It might be an attachment thing, or your body just shifts into “rest mode” when he’s around. Not weird at all, just something to explore with curiosity!
I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this, but you are responding the way a woman traditionally has been conditioned — nature and nurture — over the millennia to respond.
My adult daughter has shared with me the same sort of experiences that she’s too had with guys.
She believes that she is doing what nature intended. And I completely agree with her.
The good news is that with the right guy, you will bring out the best in him as well.
Some people’s nervous systems get more sensitive with close relationships.