Trauma and dating

Question

I struggle with dating a lot as a result of childhood and adulthood trauma. Whenever I dated, I’d get very insecure about why the person is dating me, when their ex / past relationships came up etc. Those thoughts dont occur anymore . Recently I went on a couple dates with someone ; I ended it because he was going through a divorce and it was obvious that he was still grieving. I admired him for his education and career . My parents from when I was a child always said they’d support me through education but then they kicked me out abruptly and that has been a huge resentment and regret arc for me. This person I dated has the kind of education I wish I had been able to pursue. I ended it with him in a very calm manner but since then I have been very agitated. I keep having flashbacks of interactions with my parents over the years, the resentment, the guilt, the what-if scenarios , everything keeps coming back. I am in therapy and I have done a lot of work on myself over the years and I have not had such a hard time with regulation in a very long time. putting this here in case anyone has any perspective or similar experience to share. Thanks

Posted Apr 2, 2026, 10:40 PM UTC

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