So, you’ve met a great guy, and things seemed to be going really well until he started acting as if you don’t exist! Why is he ignoring me all of a sudden? What happened? There are several reasons why a man might suddenly ignore a girl, including he’s an introvert, needs space, or pulls away. Since you’re seriously crushing on him, you can’t let it go and want to know what’s going on. Your immediate assumption is that he’s losing interest. While that might be the case, it’s not the only reason he could be ignoring you. Before jumping to conclusions, here are twenty-one reasons he suddenly ignores you.
21 Reasons Why He Suddenly Ignores You
Have you been having sleepless nights about why the guy you’re dating has started ignoring you all of a sudden? Don’t start panicking just yet because there are plenty of reasons for his weird behavior change, including he’s an introvert, needs space, or pulls away. Instead, keep reading to find out the fifteen reasons why he suddenly ignores you.
#1 He Is An Introvert
Introverts are exciting characters, and they will have you totally confused if you don’t understand them. People often accuse them of being depressed and socially awkward because they prefer spending time alone. Reading Suggestion: 16 Ways to Start Ignoring Him After He Ignores You When they withdraw, it’s not because they’re having a breakdown. It’s because alone time is the main character trait of an introvert. They recharge and refresh in isolation, and resurface when they feel rejuvenated. If your guy friend is an introvert, he’s not ignoring you. He’s reenergizing to be his best version when he sees you again.
#2 He Needs Space
When men get stressed out, they need space to think about their lives and restrategize. The narrative that men are warriors and march through the storms of life unscathed might fit the character for a superhero movie, but it’s not reality. Women release their emotions by having a conversation about it, and men go into their man cave and work it out. Whether it’s work, family, or financial issues, when he needs time to figure something out, he’ll ignore you, so leave him to it.
#3 He Is Pulling Away
There are many reasons men pull away from the women they’re dating. It might be because you are spending too much time together, and he feels like he’s losing his independence. He may be scared of getting hurt because of the emotional baggage he’s carrying from a previous relationship. Or he’s fighting against his feelings of vulnerability that are challenging his masculinity. Reading Suggestion: Why Do Guys Come Back When You Ignore Them? Men pull away to process their feelings and will eventually return. But when they feel as if they’re being pressured to make a decision, they either stay away for longer or they don’t come back at all. So the best thing you can do is leave him alone until he’s ready.
#4 You Have Offended Him
To women, men get offended for the strangest reasons. Why would a guy have a temper tantrum because you checked the directions on Google maps when you realized he was lost. Or that you completed putting up the shelf that he started two weeks ago? In your mind, you were giving him a helping hand, but in his mind, you were disrespecting him by showing you don’t trust him to work things out by himself. Reading Suggestion: What Does It Mean When A Boy Stares At You? He doesn’t tell you he’s upset because he expects you to know, hence why he’s ignoring you.
#5 He Is Working On His Goals
If you have a dream, you’ve got to work on it to turn it into a reality, which takes time and effort. A goal-orientated man understands that he must make sacrifices to achieve the objectives he’s set for himself. Making sacrifices involves less socializing, less sleep, and more early mornings. It’s not that he doesn’t have time for you because he doesn’t see you as important, but the most important thing to him is becoming successful.
#6 He Wants To End The Relationship
Unfortunately, some men start ignoring women when they decide it’s time to end the relationship. He’s thought about your union long and hard and concluded that it’s time to call it a day. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with him making this decision. The problem is why it’s taking him so long to tell you? Sometimes, it’s because he doesn’t want to hurt you, and he’s waiting for the right moment (although there’s never a right moment to get dumped). In other cases, it’s because he’s gutless and doesn’t have the balls to tell you, so he’s hoping you’ll get the message and dump him or move on by ignoring you.
#7 He Is Insecure
Have you recently got a new job or a new car? If he feels overshadowed by your glow-up because now you’re earning more money than him or driving a better car, he’ll feel uncomfortable in your presence. Research suggests that men feel insecure when their partners make more money because traditional roles dictate that men should be the breadwinners. So when a woman brings in more cash than her man, he indirectly feels emasculated because the unconscious message is that he’s no longer the provider and protector. Reading Suggestion: How to Ignore Someone Without Being Rude? Whether this is the case with your guy or not, don’t feel pressured to dim your light to protect a man’s ego. Continue being fearless and fabulous, and the right man capable of matching your energy will show up eventually.
#8 You Are Too Clingy
Men don’t like clingy women because it makes them seem desperate. If you’re always calling him, texting him, and wanting to be together because you don’t have a life of your own, he’ll feel suffocated. Suffocation is uncomfortable, and to avoid it, he’ll ignore you. These are obvious clingy behaviors, but some other things can make you seem clingy, such as constantly posting selfies of you two on social media and telling the world how happy you are to have found such an amazing guy. If you’ve been doing this, stop. He’ll think you’re desperate for attention. Are you always fishing for compliments and needing him to tell you you’re beautiful or how much he likes you? If you’ve been doing this, stop. He’ll think you’re terribly insecure, and he doesn’t want to be the one to have to boost your confidence all the time.
#9 His Friends Don’t Like You
Friends are an important part of a man’s life, and when they meet a girl they like, some of them will seek their friend’s approval before moving forwards. This is tough because some friends are immature, and if she doesn’t look like a Barbie, she’s not attractive. Or if they think their friend needs to have more fun before he settles down, they’ll say they don’t like her to put him off. If you’ve met his friends recently, the energy was off, and he wasn’t acting himself, he may be ignoring you because his boys are not keen on you.
#10 He Is Playing Hard To Get
Women are not the only ones known for playing hard to get. Men do it too. If he wants to make sure you’re actually into him before he commits, he’ll ignore you to see how you act. If you pursue him, you’ve proved yourself. If you don’t, he’ll assume you’re not bothered, and you’ll never hear from him again.
#11 He Thinks You’re Ungrateful
Has he done something nice for you recently, like take you out on a special date, bought you a special gift, or done some DIY projects in your home? If so, think about your reaction when he did it. Reading Suggestion: What Is A Pick Me Boy And How To Spot Him Did you act really impressed, or did you give him a bland thank you? Although you may not be the type to start screaming and jumping up and down when a man treats you well, he’s not looking at it from the perspective of your personality type. He hasn’t considered the fact that you’re pretty laid back and don’t get excited easily. Instead, he thinks you’re ungrateful and didn’t show him the appreciation he deserves, so now he’s sulking.
#12 He Is Emotionally Unavailable
One of the most common signs of an emotionally unavailable man is he won’t open up and let you know how he feels. Even if you encourage him and give him a safe space to let his guard down, he won’t. He’ll keep his emotions bottled up and become distant. Another sign of emotional unavailability is he feels uncomfortable when you get emotional. He doesn’t support you when you express yourself, or he gets frustrated or becomes cold-hearted. A man who can’t handle his own emotions won’t be able to handle yours. If he thinks you’re too emotional, he’ll shut down.
#13 You Gave Away The Goodies
Unless you’re looking for a purely sexual relationship, sleeping with a guy too quickly is the worst thing you can do. If you got caught up in the moment, desired intimacy, confused sexual chemistry for love, or felt that having sex would get him to commit, you might have lost him for good. Hollywood has done a fantastic job of convincing us that one-night stands can turn into long-lasting relationships, but the reality is that they rarely do. In real life, when it does happen, it’s an exception to the rule. If you’ve slept with him, there’s a high chance his perception of you has changed. One of the reasons it’s best to wait until you’re in a committed relationship to sleep with a guy is because he’ll have more respect for you. Reading Suggestion: 15 Signs A Married Woman Wants To Sleep With You He’ll see you as valuable because you made him work to get you. He’ll feel he can trust you because you’re not the type to sleep with every guy you meet. Additionally, sexual chemistry can confuse a man. With all that pent-up sexual energy, he’ll think you’re the best thing since sliced bread. But once you’ve slept together, and he’s released that sexual energy, he’ll come to his senses and realize you weren’t that spectacular after all, hence why
#14 He Doesn’t Want To Appear Too Clingy
Your guy friend might think you’re absolutely awesome. He loves your personality and enjoys spending time with you. But, nevertheless, he keeps his distance because he doesn’t want to appear too clingy. When they meet the right one, men fall in love quickly, and if he’s been hurt in the past because he let an ex know that he wanted to settle down with her, but she dumped him shortly after, he’ll hold back because he doesn’t want to get his heart broken again.
#15 He’s Scared Of Rejection
Men are terrified of rejection since they’re typically the initiators when it comes to dating, sex, and marriage proposals, the risk of rejection is greater. The assumption is that men brush off rejection and keep approaching females until they get a yes, but this is not the case. No matter how confident a man is, a “no” thrusts a dagger through the male psyche, and he begins questioning himself. Reading Suggestion: How To Tell Him You Miss Him Without Sounding Needy? He questions his looks, personality, ability to perform in the bedroom, and financial capabilities. The more he doubts himself, the less secure he becomes, and when he does find a girlfriend, these doubts still plague him. He has sleepless nights worrying because although you’ve agreed to date him, you’ll tell him to kick rocks when you notice his flaws. Therefore, his way of protecting himself is by ignoring you.
#16 He Feels He Can’t Compete
It’s a huge misconception that traditionally beautiful women find dating easier, but this is not always the case. The female with model looks can come across as intimidating to many guys. They won’t bother approaching her because they assume she’s taken or arrogant because of her looks. If by chance, an average-looking guy manages to date a baddie, even though he feels extremely lucky that you agreed to go out with him, he now feels overwhelmed. If you fall into this category, he’s ignoring you because he doesn’t understand why you like him when you’ve got so many other alternatives. He may have observed how guys eye you up on your dates despite being with another man. The assumption is that men get an ego boost when other guys are checking out their woman, not only is male approval a sign she’s sexy, but it’s his way of competing and winning in the sexual marketplace. Reading Suggestion: Do Emotionally Unavailable Man Miss You? While this is true for some men, it doesn’t apply to all of them. He may feel uncomfortable having a woman on his arm that every man wants because he doesn’t want the stress of having to fight for her. The attention you get gives him cause for concern. He thinks, “If this is how men act towards her when I’m around, how about when I’m not with her?” And if she’s got all these options, it’s only a matter of time before she finds a replacement.
#17 He Doesn’t Think You’re Interested
Are you a laid-back type of girl who doesn’t get excited about much, let alone a new relationship? Your text messages are bland, with no emojis, just straight talking and yes and no answers. When he calls, you don’t sound all chirpy and ecstatic to hear his voice, and you’re not all over him when you see him. He’s tested you by turning up at yours and then leaving five minutes after because he suddenly realized he’s got an appointment, but your reaction was nonchalant. You didn’t appear disappointed and said bye without questioning when you were going to see him again. Since you’ve just met, he doesn’t understand your personality and jumps to the conclusion you’re not interested in him.
#18 He’s Not Concerned About Your Feelings
Some men are selfish and don’t consider other people’s feelings. If he’s a self-absorbed person who is only concerned about his needs, he’ll ignore you because he doesn’t feel the need to explain himself to you or anyone else for that matter. To the people who know him best, his disappearing acts are the norm. He can go weeks without contacting friends and family when he’s off doing his own thing. Reading Suggestion: How To Make A Guy Regret Ghosting You? Even if you haven’t put a label on your relationship, it’s common courtesy that he lets you know what’s going on. But he doesn’t think this way, and there’s not much you can do to change that.
#19 He’s A Narcissist
If your partner is a narcissist, get out now! Narcissists are not easy to spot at the beginning of a relationship because they’re so charming. But the more you educate yourself about narcissists, you’ll smell one coming a mile off. All narcissists act the same in a relationship, and their strategy has three stages. To hook a woman, they start by love-bombing her, this happens when they’ve just met a female, they go over the top in the romance department by taking her on expensive dates, buying her expensive gifts, taking her on luxurious vacations, and saying all the right things. This is a dream come true for the average woman, and she falls head over heels in love with him. The moment he realizes you’re hooked, he moves onto the devaluing stage, where he starts saying and doing things to break her down. Reading Suggestion: What happens When You Ignore a Narcissist Who Dumped You? He’ll start saying the cruelest and unkind things to his significant other to make her feel insecure. A part of this strategy is to ignore her, so she starts questioning what she’s done to upset him. The final stage is the discarding stage where he dumps her out of the blue and refuses to explain why. So if it sounds like you’re dating a narcissist, you may as well leave now because he’s about to get rid of you anyway.
#20 You’ve Been Compartmentalized
If there were filing cabinets for the brain, all men would have one. Men tend to file their thoughts and feelings away until they’re ready to deal with them. Ever wondered why so many married men act single when they’re in public? Because they’ve compartmentalized their wives. As soon as they are out of her presence, she gets filed away until he needs to contact her for something or he’s back home. After filing her away, he opens another draw and deals with that, and in the meantime, if he sees a hot woman, he’s going to give her the eye and may even strike up a conversation and flirt with her even though he doesn’t intend on cheating. Reading Suggestion: The 10 Best Excuses to Not Hang Out With Someone Although it appears as if he’s ignoring you, he’s not. He’s just filed you away in a cabinet until it’s time to interact with you again.
#21 He’s Not Alone
Have you called and texted him several times throughout the day, but he’s not responding? He might be hanging out with a friend who’s having a rough time and giving him his undivided attention. By putting his phone away, he lets his friend know he cares about and is there for him. They may just be sitting in front of the TV watching a football game, but keeping his phone out of the mix is his way of being respectful. He hasn’t told you what’s happening because you’ve just started dating, and you’re not yet on that level. But you don’t have anything to worry about. When he leaves his friends and sees your missed calls and text messages, he’ll call you back and let you know what’s going on.
Final Thought
Now that you have an idea why the guy you’re seeing might be ignoring you, it’s time to do something about it. You can do one of two things, have a direct conversation with him, or play him at his own game and start ignoring him too. It’s important to remember that if you choose to talk about it, do it at the right time, and make the discussion casual or you could push him further away. Additionally, ignoring him will get his attention, or it will backfire, so think before you act.
