5 Self-Sabotaging Behaviors That Can Destroy Even The Best Relationships

Don't let what's hurt you in the past destroy what you want in the future.

Woman looking at herself in the mirror Image Source from Getty Images
Advertisement

Self-sabotage in romantic relationships generally refers to patterns of destructive behaviors that impair a healthy connection and justify ending the bond.

When done consistently over time, these often unconscious behaviors will lead to relationship tension and breakups.

RELATED: 8 Tiny Changes That Will Immediately Increase Your Quality Of Life

5 Self-Sabotaging Behaviors That Can Destroy Your Relationships

1. Staying emotionally unavailable

When you avoid getting close to someone for fear of getting hurt, you make it impossible to develop an intimate relationship with someone new. These are the moments when you catch yourself saying, “I can’t go through a heartbreak again, so I don’t get too close.”

Advertisement

This emotional unavailability will keep new mates at arm’s length, unable to really connect and attach to you.

2. Threatening to leave

Frequently threatening to leave a relationship — like communicating that you want a divorce or are finally fed up — or physically storming out of a room in times of conflict can sabotage your relationships by creating instability and insecurity. In general, you only want to threaten to leave when you mean it and intend to follow through.

In times of intense conflict, physically leaving your partner’s space if you feel unsafe or need a moment to regroup may be healthy in the short term. However, doing it habitually without other conflict resolution strategies rarely helps relationships survive in the long run.

Advertisement

3. Passive-aggressive communication

When someone shows they’re upset through their nonverbal body language or words but avoids discussing it directly, it’s called passive-aggressive communication. For example, a passive-aggressive response after a fight might be, “I’m fine. Everything is good,” even though it’s clear that you’re angry, sad, or generally upset.

This kind of behavior can sabotage relationships. It makes it very difficult to resolve conflict and understand the true perspective of your partner because nothing is directly addressed. It’s left up to your partner to figure out how you feel and why, which they may or may not be able to do.

RELATED: Ask Yourself These 7 Questions To Determine If You're Sabotaging Your Own Relationship

Advertisement

4. Belittling your partner

Directly belittling your partner by calling them names or assuming an air of superiority is problematic because it creates a highly judgmental, often contentious dynamic with your partner.

It also assumes they are worth less than you, wrong, or insignificant, which isn’t going to make your partner feel cared about or respected.

5. Silence

Sometimes, the most cutting way to sabotage a relationship is by cutting off contact or not responding to a partner’s communication attempts. Literally, to be silent and stop engaging in communication entirely.

Stonewalling or refusing to engage with a partner makes resolving conflict and understanding the other very difficult.

Advertisement

RELATED: 6 Things That Kill A Relationship (Pretty Much) Every Time

Most Common Reasons People Sabotage Their Relationships

According to a 2021 research study by Peel and Caltabiano, the most common reasons participants sabotaged their relationships were:

  • Fear—primarily of being hurt or rejected, but also of commitment

  • Low self-esteem and negative self-concept

  • Difficulty trusting partners

  • High expectations for the relationship were not being met, and there was general disappointment that the connection was not as good as it should have been

  • Lack of relationship skills or tools to do it differently

   

   

The naked truth is this:

Advertisement

We can all bring baggage from past relationships and experiences into new romantic relationships in ways that harm them. Often, tendencies to put up emotional walls, threaten to leave, passive-aggressively communicate, belittle a partner, or stay silent can secretly destroy relationships.

If you notice you’re doing any self-sabotaging behaviors, pause.

Notice your thoughts, feelings, and how you want to act before you do anything. Just sit with the experience without doing anything. Try not to act impulsively and explore why you’re sabotaging your relationship this way. Are you afraid? Insecure about getting close to people? Are you struggling to trust or holding unrealistic expectations for your new mate?

Advertisement

As you recognize your motivation, actively work to stop sabotaging yourself.

RELATED: Why The Major Cause Of Relationship Problems Is You

Cortney Warren, Ph.D., ABPP, is a clinical psychologist and adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). She is also the author of Letting Go of Your Ex and Lies We Tell Ourselves.