Search Results: he may never want a relationship

Some people are raised in a family where guilt is used as a manipulation to keep family members in line. If you had this done to you as a child, it is very easy to do the same thing to others when you get older.

In romantic relationships, when people sometimes feel very desperate and they sense that a relationship is coming to an end, they do desperate things. One of the most frightening things that you can experience is having a partner threaten suicide.

You may think that your partner is simply being manipulative and you don't think they are truly suicidal; your strongest feelings towards them may be anger at the way they are treating you. But would they follow through and make a half-hearted suicide attempt just for the effect it would have on you? Sometimes, such half-hearted gestures are more effective than the person intended and may actually result in death. And what if you have misjudged your partner's intentions, you ignore them not wanting to encourage manipulative behavior, and they then commit suicide? That would cause a lifetime of self-blame and horrendous memories.

People who make suicidal threats generally don't contemplate anything other than the possibility that you will take them seriously and respond in a way that proves that you do love them. As much as the behavior is manipulative, it is not necessarily the result of a conscious manipulation.

I have gotten quite upset about a breakup but I have never threatened suicide. And I have never had a partner threaten suicide. I am grateful to have never had that experience. Have you ever made a suicide threat to a partner in a romantic relationship?