Why Women Mentally Check Out of Relationships Before Leaving

Understanding the Adage A Woman Leaves Mentally Before Physically

There is a saying that a woman leaves a relationship mentally before she leaves physically. This points to the tendency for women to withdraw emotionally from a romantic partnership before ending it outright. There are compelling psychological and sociological reasons why females distance themselves in unhappy relationships before walking away completely.

Women Invest Intensely in Relationships

Research reveals innate differences in how men and women approach intimacy. Women often put more emotionally into cultivating loving bonds. The female brain produces higher levels of oxytocin to encourage connecting.

When a women invests deeply in a relationship, conflict or dissatisfaction provokes severe emotional turmoil. Self-protective withdrawal occurs long before she liberates herself physically from the dysfunctional situation.

Suppression of Female Voice/Needs

Outdated gender roles have traditionally suppressed expression of female emotional needs. Many women mute rebellion against unsatisfying relationships to uphold societal expectations.

This breeds psychological distancing as intimacy friction arises. Women still deeply require loving connections thanks to their neurobiology. Partnership problems produce intense inner turmoil even if unvoiced for a lengthy duration.

Assessing Viability Before Exit

The majority of women pursue romance with long-standing commitment or marriage as the goal. This instinct goes beyond sexual attraction into life partnership and providing for offspring.

When doubts surface, rather than immediately flee, women attempt to discern if the relationship still retains redeeming qualities worth salvaging after improvement. Reassessing viability promotes transient emotional detachment.

7 Signs A Woman Has Already Left Mentally

Women start divorcing a relationship mentally long before making it official. Look for these signals she has already begun to withdraw psychologically:

1. Lack of Interest in Sex and Affection

Physical and emotional intimacy quickly fade once a women disengages from a relationship in her heart. She pulls away from kisses, sex, hand-holding, hugs, and other gestures of warmth.

2. Less Communication

As women detach mentally, they invest less effort into the everyday acts of connecting like asking questions, listening, making eye contact, inquiring about their partners day and expressing verbal affection.

3. No Longer Making Joint Plans

A woman abandoning a relationship in her psyche stops getting excited about or committing to shared activities. She may still acquiesce to attending events if directly asked but will not actively make suggestions or plans.

4. Hyper Self-Reliance

Pulling away mentally manifests via emphasizing independence and self-reliance. She rejects requests for help, collaboration, or partner input on decisions. She conveys shes got things handled on her own.

5. Orienting Life Around Kids/Career

As women divert from the relationship mentally, they fill the void by pouring attention into offspring, jobs, friends, parents, siblings, hobbies, volunteer work or further education. These become prime emotional focuses.

6. Flirting With Other Men

Once checked out mentally, inappropriate interactions with alternate romantic prospects often start. Emotional or sexual infidelity allows women to experience desired attention lacking presently.

7. Choosing the Company of Others

The clearest signal occurs when a woman decides to spend less and less time with her partner without external obligations forcing this. She has crossed over to primarily finding meaning outside the relationship.

Why Women Eventually Leave Physically Too

Although women disconnect emotionally first, they do still typically choose to eventually exit physically from irreparably broken relationships as well. Four factors explain this.

1. The Hope of Reviving Intimacy Fades

Once a woman ceases to invest mentally in companionship, she cannot authentically resuscitate passion and partnership elements alone. Without reciprocal effort from the man, she loses optimism of recreating relationship magic.

2. Her Needs Never Get Met

Women in unhealthy relationships often suppress articulating intimacy needs openly but hold unconscious expectations their partners should intuit these. When mutually understood needs go chronically unmet with no path of resolution, women walk away.

3. She Craves Reciprocated Appreciation

Female devotion cannot endure indefinitely without outward validation and admiration. The Empty Love Bank concept explains once deposits of caring stop being made yet withdrawals continue, bankruptcy results.

4. New Opportunities Arise

Once detached mentally, women instinctively survey prospects on the horizon. When flickers ignite with alternate potential mates able to meet her intimacy wants, motivation to leave physically spikes to explore these options.

Early Signs A Relationship is Going Wrong

Catching problems early and actively working together to course correct misaligned expectations and unmet needs can halt the mental departure process before it fully spins out. Signs requiring attention include:

Constant fighting and unresolved arguments

Ongoing criticism and defensiveness

Feeling pressured or controlled

Imbalanced efforts to connect

Infidelity or inappropriate external flirtations

Abuse or intimidation tactics

Loss of intimacy and affection

Feeling chronically lonely in the partnership

Reigniting Emotional Connection

If a women has begun subconsciously checking out of intimacy, sincere efforts must be made to woo her back in. Essential elements include:

Actively listening to understand her perspective

Validating her emotions and needs

Communicating clearly and respectfully

Reinitiating thoughtful romantic gestures

Making quality time together a priority

Working cooperatively on shared goals

Tuning into implicit cues and requests

Affirming positive aspects of the relationship

Providing consistent reassurance the partnership possesses redeeming merit encourages a woman to reinvest in intimacy. Sustaining this fuels her motivations to remain committed in body, mind and spirit.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.