Why does my girlfriend flinch so much?

[JohnWebber123]

First, let me start off with I have never hurt her. I would never hurt her. We'll be watching tv and I'll reach for something, and she'll flinch. If we're just talking and I go to hug her suddenly, she'll flinch. Not like she's rejecting the hug or anything, but that she got scared. She does this in all sorts of situations. She flinches a dozen times a day. Not like randomly, something has to trigger it, like a sudden movement. Please I want to help her, I feel like somethings wrong. I asked her why she flinched so much and she just looked at me and said, "Nothing it's fine." Please answer I'm scared for her.

[Anonymous]

Like the others said yes, maybe she's had some abusive relationships in the past, and the only way to really find out is to ask and talk about it. On the other hand, my boyfriend is exactly the same way. I'll be standing right in front of him while he's holding me by the waist and reach up to touch his cheek or something and he'll flinch. It tends to happen a lot haha, and we've already talked and he's told me he just flinches really easily when he's not expecting something. Either way, talk to her, ask her if she usually flinches easily, how long that's been happening, etc. Cuz if it's just been ever since she was younger, it might just be something she does. But if it's more of a recent thing or after a certain time in her life, than it might mean more.

[linkywinky]

It could be prior or ongoing (father? mother? etc?) abuse that she's suffered/suffering through that makes her flinch. I flinch a lot, too, and one of my guy friends finally blurted out "Why do you flinch so much, were you abused?" which was.. very.. tasteless of him. But in reality no, I've never been abused. All of my guy friends just get physical with me a lot so I've taken to flinching away from things as a way of defense.

[mmargaretxx]

Its possible she's been hurt in the past, but you shouldn't assume something like that since its a very big assumption and if you're wrong she could be offended as well as her parents. She could just be sensitive or threatned before

[Anonymous]

Yeah, okay. Maybe she's been "hurt in the past".

Or maybe, just maybe, she's just fucking jumpy and has shitty peripheral vision.

[PinkFreud]

This is most likely the case. Some people are just easily startled.

[SensualScribe]

It is possible that she has experienced some sort of abuse in the past or even currently. Those are very typical reactions for a victim of abuse.

[dedeeroz]

I flinch often as well. I Want to be ready for any type of action. It's like my body is wired and ready. I also watch a mass amount of horror flicks. So that can also trigger it. Also my older siblings picked on me, but not in abusive type of way.

[Anonymous]

She's probably use to being hit physically.

My brother hits me and I flinch a lot around him but good thing I'm not like that in public. I use to be

[Anonymous]

maybe she was abused. Or she was in an abusive relationship.

[PinkFreud]

She has squirrel like reflexes.

[Your_boss960]

Maybe she's been hurt in the past