r/BreakUps•
BrushSalt253

Is It Normal To Feel Fear Towards A Fearful Avoidant Ex?

We don't share a physical space but we do have mutual online friends and online communities. Yesterday, I witnessed her hanging out in a shared space with a mutual friend ~50ish days post breakup and for the first time ever, instead of feeling a sense of longing, i felt a subtle but primal fear of her presence and general unease. Frankly, i'm not sure if it came from a perceived boundary violation during NC or just raw emotional reflection of how i perceive her post relationship.

I'll be honest, initially post breakup I had a sense of clarity and understanding over why she did the things she did in the ways she did them and i still hold to that understanding empathetically. But now i'm in a strange place where residual feelings have been replaced with unease. I don't know if feelings of affection acted as a buffer within the relationship to prevent me from feeling some fear towards her as a source of intense emotional pain or if the fear just manifested upon reflection of her nature and the pain that was caused from a perspective outside the relationship.

Does anyone have a similar experience/feeling post breakup?

Posted Feb 19, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC

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