five years later, they had a low-key wedding in france and went on to have two daughters, now aged five and three. he would come home and think the right thing to do was to take the baby off my hands, but it made me feel like a terrible mother. but we live in an age of curated perfection where the pressure to get it right, from our bodies to our relationships, has never been greater. in the end i …

they face difficulty placing their trust in other people and fail to fulfill promises. this leads to the person building walls around them and not letting others into their lives. their fear for long-term relationships steals their ability to run them smoothly, and they stir up minor issues to break the tie. they either will distract you from the topic or will not be interested in catering to such thoughts. this detachment is because of the fear of investing in …

if you fear getting close to people or making relationship decisions that have a long-lasting effect, such as getting married, you might have commitment phobia. it can include fear of deep friendship and a reluctance to commit to a job or career. a comparative study found that generation x (people born between the early 1960s and the early 1980s) displayed less workplace commitment and greater likeliness to quit than the baby boomer generation (those born from 1940s to 1960s). there …

but for some, the idea of committing — whether it be to a new job or a new relationship — brings on intense feelings of fear and an urge for avoidance. this is commitment phobia and it goes beyond what some people call “commitment issues.” the uncertainty of what awaits after making a big decision can make some people feel unsure about what steps to take next. someone living with it can experience high anxiety and panic attacks even thinking …

he says no one ever really knows if they’re in love, and no one ever really knows if a relationship is going to last, and that nerves and doubt are all normal. it’s hard for anyone to decipher what the line is in a relationship, the point at which staying with a person tips into not-worth-it territory. from the outside, it seems like both things — a fear of commitment and a less-than-perfect fit with your partner — are at …