Needing space after an argument is one thing, but disappearing for a week at a time feels like something else.

Every fight in this relationship seems to end the same way. The boyfriend pulls away, asks for “space,” and then completely disappears for days at a time without checking in or offering any reassurance at all.

She already explained how painful that feels and tried to compromise by saying she could handle a day or two apart.

But after another week of silence, she feels completely done with the cycle.

Now she’s thinking about ignoring him for good the next time he reaches out.

Let’s see what’s been going on.

WIBTAH for ignoring my boyfriend and moving on after he keeps giving me the silent treatment for a week every time we fight?

My boyfriend (23M) and I (25F) got into a fight March 31, and until now we haven’t spoken at all.

This isn’t new. Every time we fight, he says he “needs space,” but it always turns into almost a week of no communication. No check ins, no reassurance, nothing. Just complete silence.

I already talked to him about this before and told him how unfair it feels. I said I understand needing space, but a whole week of being shut out feels like I’m being emotionally abandoned. I told him one or two days I can handle, but more than that is too much.

He didn’t seem too willing to fix the behavior.

He said he would “try,” but I told him I don’t need him to try, I need him to actually do something about it.

The problem is, during those silent periods, I’m left carrying all the emotional weight alone while he just disappears.

Because of that, I made a promise to myself: if he ever does this again, I won’t answer his calls or entertain him anymore. Just completely ignore him and move on.

Frustrated, she’s considering turning the behavior around on him.

Now I’m here wondering if I’m wrong for that. Is it messed up if I just ghost him back with no explanation?

Part of me feels like it’s justified because what he’s doing feels like emotional punishment. But another part of me is thinking maybe I’m just doing the same toxic behavior.

I don’t know if this is me setting a boundary or just reacting out of hurt.

AITA?

Yikes! That sounds like emotional torture.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman’s family who is trying to stop her from moving away for her husband’s job.

Let’s check out how the readers over at Reddit feel about what she plans to do.

According to this comment, she’s not wrong.

Here’s someone who needs space, but not that much!

For this reader, no argument is worth this punishment.

That would definitely handle it.

She needs to walk away.

This woman already explained how much the silent treatment hurts her, and instead of changing the behavior, he just keeps repeating the same cycle every time they argue.

At some point, constantly disappearing for days at a time starts feeling more like emotional punishment than anything else.

Either way, a relationship shouldn’t feel this lonely.