Why Do We Push People Away?

Everyone reading this probably has pushed people away in their life or knows someone who has. It typically happens to those whom we care about the most. It’s a common thing that can be baffling — especially to those who’ve never felt a desire to push everyone away and be alone. Because at the end of the day, why would someone want to push someone away that they love or care about, right?

It starts small — maybe they just don’t return your calls and texts as often. Then, they avoid any type of face-to-face interaction. They may start picking fights for no reason, getting mad at trivial things, just to have a reason to leave. Soon, it becomes a full avoidance and all-out “ghosting”.

As it turns out, there are many reasons why people push others away. Some of them maybe don’t seem justified, but they could be justified in the eyes of those who are pushing people away. A lot of the time, the person who wants to push people away isn’t always in the best state of mind — for one reason or another.

It could stem from depression. Depression makes people do things that are very hard for non-depressed people to be able to understand. Depression can make people want to be completely isolated because they don’t have the mental and emotional capacity to deal with the repercussions that a relationship or friendship could bring on.