When you’ve been in a relationship for a long time, naturally, the things you guys once thought were cute about each other can start to get on your nerves. That said, what if you haven’t been in a relationship for a long time and the guy you’re dating has started to change his behavior towards you (and not in a good way)? Well, there’ll be some tell-tale signs.
- He tunes out when you talk. The first sign that you’re getting under a guy’s skin is that he doesn’t seem to be listening to you. Ever. In fact, when you talk, you get the sense that he’s thinking about what he’ll have for his dinner or which show he’s going to watch on Netflix that night. Maybe this is frustrating because he was once so attentive. I mean, he always used to ask you questions about your life and be eager to hear the answers. Now it’s a different story.
- He doesn’t seem to remember anything you say. Likewise, because he rarely seems to be listening to you, he never seems to remember what you say in conversation. Why? Well, because he doesn’t care to remember. This might be down to the fact that he’s ready for a timeout from you—or the relationship.
- He gives you one-word answers. Perhaps when you do make an effort and try and entice him into conversation by asking him thoughtful questions, he doesn’t respond or he gives one-word answers that are infuriating. Either way, it’s started to feel like you’re having a conversation with a brick wall—and you’re so over it.
- He tells you to shut up. If you’re truly getting on his nerves, your guy may even go so far as to tell you to be quiet in conversation. Whether this is politely or impolitely, he may regularly dismiss you when you try and strike up a conversation. Or he might be so engrossed with his phone or video game that he tells you he’d rather focus on what he’s doing than what you’re saying. Sigh.
- He rejects physical affection. Because talking doesn’t seem to be connecting you guys anymore, maybe you’ve tried to get your relationship back on track physically. However, this is difficult when every time you try to touch him, he pulls away—right? Like, what? Whether this is when you attempt to hold his hand or get him in the mood for a bit of bedroom action, there always seems to be an excuse, and you’re probably getting really tired of trying.
- He isn’t affectionate towards you. Maybe you’ve already given up trying to be affectionate towards him because it’s not even worth the time and energy. As an experiment, you wanted to see if he would come to you off his own back. That said, he never seems to come to you. Therefore, perhaps the relationship is starting to feel super one-sided.
- He has a short temper with you. Do you find that you guys get into fights a lot easier than you used to? Can you put this down to the fact that his temper has never been shorter? If so, this is a sign that he’s getting overly irritated with you. Whether he snaps at you for asking where he wants to hang out that day or you end up arguing over who should have emptied the dishwasher, things that weren’t issues once upon a time are now suddenly the biggest deal—and it always seems to be your fault.
- He doesn’t text back as often as he used to. It’s not just his face-to-face communication that has changed. He might not text or call back as much as he used to before. Even if he does, he might just answer your questions without asking you anything. If you guys have already said that you love each other, does he tell you he loves you in calls and texts off his own back? Or does he even tell you that he loves you too when you tell him? If not, this doesn’t bode well.
- He keeps implying he wants his own space. Lastly, the biggest tell-tale sign that you’re getting on his nerves is that he constantly hints that he wants his own space. If you live together, perhaps he keeps going off into a different room or spending time out of the house with his friends. Maybe if you don’t already live together, he’s been distancing himself by seeing you less and you’ve started to notice it. Either way, it’s not left you feeling good about the situation. In this case, the best thing to do is have a conversation with him and give him the opportunity to tell you how he’s feeling. After all, the sooner you talk about your issues, the sooner you can fix them or move forward in a positive way.
