Even the best people often accidentally fall into relationships with someone who’s a bit off. Sometimes you ignore the warning signs because you’re infatuated, and sometimes you don’t even notice that the person you’re dating is at least slightly unhinged. You’ll be better off if you look for these signs that the guy you’re dating has a screw or two loose:
- He’s overly aggressive really early on. There’s being interested and then there’s being too interested. If he’s all up in your grill and you’ve barely started talking to him, be careful. A guy you just met shouldn’t try to monopolize all your time and energy immediately. You don’t even know if you like each other yet.
- He’s harsh and rude. He may say he’s just joking, but that’s irrelevant if he’s hurting your feelings. He should be considerate and nice if he wants you around. This also applies to the way he behaves about anyone or anything else. Normal people don’t try to put other people down, especially people who care about them.
- You get a weird feeling in your gut. Never discount your instincts. If you keep telling yourself everything’s fine but deep inside you feel differently, pay attention. If you can just sense that something’s off, that’s reason enough to back away. You should be happy and comfortable around the person you’re dating.
- He doesn’t respect your boundaries. Everyone has them, and part of a relationship is navigating them with sensitivity. If you’ve told him time and time again that you feel a certain way about something and he refuses to respect that, you’re dealing with someone who is either irrational or selfish. It doesn’t matter which — neither are good qualities in a boyfriend.
- He overreacts to everything. There are generally normal and accepted reactions to most human behavior, but his are always way out of whack. He gets upset about the smallest things, and you can’t reason with him. He holds grudges and brings up crap from way back any time you have an argument. He basically makes dating him impossible, so don’t.
- He can’t hide his red flags no matter how hard he tries. You’re a smart woman — you know when a guy is trying to pull one over on you. Any time you catch him doing something suspicious or weird, he always has a slick explanation at the ready. He’s used to hiding his crazy, so rather than apologizing, he just tries one of the excuses that’s worked for him in the past.
- He parties way too hard. Life needs balance, and his partying ways indicate an extreme imbalance. He’s either an addict or he only has fun when he’s wasted and high. Either way, this is an indication of someone who is acting out or needs help. You don’t need that kind of drama in your life. He’ll be erratic and unreasonable because he’s never sober.
- He gets jealous out of nowhere. This is the worst, and so unattractive, too. You barely talk to another man and suddenly your guy won’t speak to you for the rest of the night. Every little thing becomes a huge fight. This isn’t a normal, sane way to react to the fact that yes, you are going to interact with other men in your life.
- He thrives on drama. Huge red flag! The last thing you want is a guy who’s always creating tension where there should be none at all. You don’t have time or energy for someone who picks fights. It’s immature, and exhausting, and yes, a bit crazy. Engaging him in this destructive behavior will only cause huge problems.
- He speaks poorly of almost everyone. Everyone in his life is awful and he doesn’t really care for a single person he knows. Nope. There’s no way that’s possible, and his statements are a sign of a huge mental disconnect from reality. No one’s exes are all crazy. It’s also very rare that someone’s family is completely horrible. His negative talk shines a light on his true character. You don’t want to even get involved with that mess. It’s not worth the toll it’ll take on your mental health.
- Nothing is ever his fault. Stay. Away. Once you become his girlfriend, guess what? Everything will suddenly be YOUR fault! If he blames everything that goes wrong in his life on anyone but himself, you’re dealing with a childish and delusional individual. Dating him is asking for a world of trouble.
