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ADHD Commitment Phobics: When to Press the Panic Button

Like countless other adults with ADHD, I’m drawn to the chase—and quick to misread signals in a relationship.
Adult ADHD Blog | Monday September 21st - 4:11pm | More September 2009 Blogs
 

As the ADHD half of this relationship, it bothers me a bit that the new suitor so easily loses track of time, and seems to disregard it, when we talk.

Jane D., ADHD Adult Blog

Once again I feel like I am spinning wheels when it comes to love. The new suitor, Sensitive Guy, is a tough read, although he says things that are obvious. The words aren't matching the actions.

On one hand, he has proclaimed his love for me. He burst into tears after we watched "The Time Traveler's Wife" together, and then again during his latest visit, when he said that, when he sees me, he sees a future that he's always wanted. It is the dialogue of Nicholas Sparks novels. He assured me that these were tears of happiness, yet the voice of reason chimes in, "When it's too good to be true, it is just that."

His gifts to me are as practical as they come. They've included a bottle of Tums (for those late-night dinners), a box of roach bait for the former apartment, and a bottle of hand sanitizer.

He's brought me to baseball games—which he loves—but he has yet to see the pool where I swim. There are hints of promises—meeting a friend, showing me the kind of homes that he loves, bringing me to see his workplace—and yet he really hasn't followed up with action. The sister says that such friends and lovers are NATO (No Action, Talk Only).

And yet I am drawn to the mystery of the unspoken, of everything unsaid. I am still drawn to the chase. How can one proclaim love for someone, and not follow this up with something certain? Why is he not asking me if I am dating other people, why doesn't he seem jealous when I mention other men who I am meeting up with, why isn't there a sense of possessiveness? I know I should focus on the new gig, but my mind inevitably shifts to pipe dreams, and wondering where I stand with the Sensitive Man. Am I being played?

It bothers me a bit that he so easily loses track of time or seems to disregard it when we talk. "Wow it's almost 2 a.m.," I'll say, though he seems to not understand the meaning of this. We end up chatting three or four hours into the wee hours of the morning, and I feel like a dead bagel when I wake up.

A bad sign was when he wanted to keep the souvenir cup from the wedding that I attended with him that had a lipstick smear on it. I am not a cup, I thought. I told him he could have it, so that I would once again be the placater, and to stop his tears.

The friend, Danielle, says I should hold onto him, but date others, too. It seems like good advice when love seems so tentative.

1 Comments:

  • Posted by missk - Sep 22 2009 @ 12:04 PM
    okay you didn't ask but
    As a peer I HAVE to comment on this. (I am also a mid 30's urban ADHD girl with lots of experience dealing with dating dramas and all manner of unsuitable suitors) Maybe it's just your writing style (which is fabulous by the way, and fun to read) but there is such detachment when you talk about all of these guys. And you always seem to be waiting for THEM to make some kind of decision :) Oh I wouldn't be so rude as to point it out of I hadn't been there before and couldn't totally relate. I know when I'm "in" and when I'm not, and I've learned to protect myself by being a bit aloof in a relationships. This can be a good for ADHDers...I mean better to protect yourself a little than jump into something harmful right? But then there's that line where we cling too long to safety and lose track of what WE truly want. Honestly, from reading your blogs, I think all these guys sound like dinks. I think you should drop them all and make a list of what YOU want, and hold out for that or take the time to learn what that is and develop your own soul...instead of wondering about what THEY want! Who cares what they want? Why let them steer YOUR ship. It's yours girlfriend, take it back by the balls. And dudes like this guy, who try to "ply me with little gifts"...give me the willies. I don't think he even knows what he wants...which is why he's mysterious to you, which is why you want to hold onto him. He's quicksand...and you'll suffocate waiting for him to be firm ground, while he's doing war with his own internal baggage. And trust me, we don't even want to know what his internal baggage it--whatever it is ain't pretty. He's doing a tapdance of charm to distract you...to hide who he really is. He probably doesn't even realize he's doing it, and therefore has the capacity to inflict harm without even trying. Okay, stepping off soapbox but on a pure enjoyment of your post note: that feeling like a dead bagel line is pure comic genius :P
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