3 Dangers Of An 'Anxious-Avoidant Attachment Style' In A Relationship

Pair anxiety with avoidance, and a relationship can quickly become tricky. Here's how to mitigate their effects.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | May 07, 2025

Some people pull away when things get too intense, while others hold on even tighter. In many relationships, these instincts collide — one partner withdraws to feel safe, the other chases reassurance to ease their fears.

Avoidant partners often love deeply but find closeness overwhelming. Intimacy can feel like a threat to their independence, triggering fears learned early on through disappointment or loss. When a relationship starts to feel too real, they instinctively step back — often without realizing it.

Anxious partners, in contrast, crave connection and emotional presence. When a partner pulls away, it triggers a flood of doubt: "Did I do something wrong? Are they losing interest? Am I too much?" Instead of pulling back, the anxious partner leans in harder, seeking closeness, sometimes even reinforcing the avoidant's fears without meaning to.

When these two patterns meet, they can create the "anxious-avoidant trap" — a painful cycle where both people try to protect themselves but end up hurting each other.

Here are three ways this dynamic can quietly sabotage a relationship — and how to recognize it before it does.

1. It Gradually Destroys Your Self-Worth

Loving someone with an avoidant attachment style can feel like being stuck in emotional limbo — constantly trying to earn their affection, tolerate distance or decode mixed signals.

At first, you may tell yourself to be patient. You give more, ask for less and hope that consistency will build trust. But as you keep reaching out — and are met with silence, withdrawal or defensiveness — the real cost begins becomes apparent.

You begin questioning your own worth. Many people who have loved avoidant partners describe the same slow erosion of self-esteem. You may find yourself thinking, "I feel like a burden. Like I have to earn every crumb of affection," or, "I must be too needy, too emotional."

All the while, you are simply asking for what everyone deserves — to be loved back. A 2022 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that individuals with avoidant attachment were significantly more likely to use withdrawal strategies during conflict, such as distancing, shutting down or refusing to engage.

Over time, this pattern predicted lower relationship satisfaction for both partners. Researchers noted that when one partner repeatedly withdraws, it triggers a "demand-aggression" pattern in the other, leading to greater emotional exhaustion, unmet needs and relational distress for both sides.

Here's what can help:

• Stop overexplaining or over-apologizing for your needs. Needing closeness, clarity or reassurance isn't "too much" — it's part and parcel of a secure connection.
• Notice patterns where you chase connections at your own expense. Begin setting small boundaries around how much emotional labor you take on alone.

While this dynamic can feel difficult to break, small shifts in how you relate to your needs — and your partner's responses — can begin to restore your sense of balance.

2. It Keeps You Stuck In Emotional Limbo

For avoidantly attached partners, closeness often brings an unexpected wave of discomfort. Even when they love deeply, intimacy can feel overwhelming, stirring up fears of losing independence, being hurt or feeling trapped.

In moments of connection, they may instinctively pull back — not because they have stopped caring, but because vulnerability feels unsafe. They may think, "This feels good, but I don't trust that it can make me happy long-term."

This retreat isn't about a lack of love — it's a defense against overwhelming fear. To their partners, however, it can feel sudden and bewildering, creating a painful gap between what each person needs. The anxious partner feels abandoned and tries harder to reconnect, while the avoidant partner feels pressured and withdraws even further.

A 2024 study published in Psychiatry International further highlights that individuals with avoidant attachment styles often experience significant difficulties in emotional regulation.

Researchers found that while avoidance predicts a lower intensity of emotional dysregulation compared to anxiety, avoidantly attached individuals still struggle to manage intense emotions, especially when relationships become emotionally demanding.

This difficulty in regulating closeness intensifies the cycle of withdrawal, leaving both partners trapped in a painful pattern of reaching out and pulling away, never finding solid ground.

While this cycle often feels automatic, learning to tolerate emotional discomfort — instead of reacting to it — can help break the pattern over time.

Here's what you can try next time you observe this pattern:

• If you are avoidant, try verbalizing discomfort before withdrawing. A simple, "I need a little space to think, but I'm not pulling away from you," can prevent emotional spirals.
• If you are anxious, delay reactive texts or calls by 10 minutes. Use that pause to ask yourself what you really need — closeness, clarity or calm.

With consistency and self-awareness, it's possible to interrupt the anxious-avoidant cycle — but only if both partners begin to recognize how instability has shaped their view of love.

3. It Normalizes Instability As Love

In anxious-avoidant relationships, emotional unpredictability often becomes the norm over time.

The pattern of closeness followed by withdrawal can create a confusing emotional environment, where moments of connection are frequently disrupted by distance. For the anxious partner, this inconsistency can gradually reshape their understanding of what love should feel like, associating emotional tension, doubt and instability with intimacy.

A 2011 study published in Personal Relationships found that relational uncertainty — especially uncertainty about a partner's feelings and intentions — significantly heightened physiological stress responses during hurtful interactions and slowed emotional recovery even after supportive conversations.

These findings suggest that when relationships are marked by unpredictability, they not only strain emotional resilience but also prolong the stress response, making it harder to return to a state of emotional safety.

Here's what you can try to recognize and rewire this pattern:

• Challenge the belief that love must feel intense to be meaningful. Emotional safety may feel unfamiliar at first, but it's a sign of security, not a lack of passion.
• Pay attention to how your body responds in relationships. If peace feels boring and anxiety feels like connection, your nervous system may still be wired for instability.

Breaking free from the anxious-avoidant trap takes more than insight — it requires two partners who are willing to reflect on their patterns, build emotional awareness and consistently show up for the relationship with intention and care.

Want to explore your attachment style? Start by taking the Anxious Attachment Scale and the Avoidant Attachment Scale — two quick assessments that can help you understand how you show up in relationships.

A similar version of this article can also be found on Forbes.com, here.