If you think getting ghosted is the worst thing that can happen to you, then you must know that enduring a ‘slow fade’ is equally painful.
Dating in the millennial era can be heart-wrenching. Your babe saying, "It is over", can be overwhelmingly heartbreaking, but some people experience worse when their partners decide to avoid confrontation at all costs. So you either get 'ghosted' when your lover decides to drop off the face of the earth, or you go through the more excruciating 'slow fade.' Here are five signs that can help you find out if your partner is pulling a 'slow fade' on you.
They take longer to respond to your texts.
Did they earlier response to your texts within seconds, and now they take hours? Well, next week, they might take days. Do not compare their behaviour to the person you last saw—instead, you need to compare their behaviour to the person they were when you two started dating.
Their responses are less enthusiastic and shorter.
Do not overlook a drastic behavioural change. If they regularly sent you memes before and told you how excited they were to meet you again, and now you feel lucky after receiving just an emoji - sadly, that is your cue. When you are dating someone, you should not have to wait too long to see them or wonder when they are going to text you.
Only you initiate the conversations.
If it is always you calling them or initiating a conversation through texts, and if you feel their responses are closed, short, and they are not trying to engage and ask you more questions, it is probably because they are trying to slowly fade from you. Scroll back and check your most recent conversations with them, and if you find yourself swimming in one-sided texts, it is time for you to move on.
You are not a priority anymore.
Slow faders tend to keep you around but will not prioritize you. They don’t like to have you around anymore, but they also don’t want to be left alone. Or simply, they are investing their time and energy elsewhere. Because of all the dating apps out there, we know there are about 300 other people they could be dating or hanging out with. The new person that the slow fader is currently seeing enjoys all their attention now.
They are not making any plans with you.
Telling someone, "Sure, let's meet up," is not the same as asking someone, "Can you make time for a movie on Wednesday after work?" Slow faders might be a little interested to see you again but not interested enough to make firm plans with you.
Stop chasing them when you see these signs and wait to be chased. If they are not slow fading, they will try to reconnect with you at some point. Otherwise, you know what to do.
