Question from anonymous:
"I like people and then as soon as they show affection towards me or say they like me i feel gross (like i got the ick) and i don’t like them anymore and everything they do annoys me or grosses me out. i genuinely don’t get it and it’s gotten to the point we’re i can’t decide if i like someone genuinely or this thing is going to happen again."
"At the root of it, very often, getting the ick is a defense mechanism. The attention, sensitivity, and emotional attunement this person is giving you is something you need but may have grown up without or been missing in past relationships, In order to get through not being seen, heard, held [as a child, in past relationships, etc.], you have to convince yourself that you don't need those things. So, it was protective to think that that behavior was 'icky'. [If] you were growing up [without those needs being met], you have to kind of tell yourself that it's 'gross' when someone's really sensitive, attentive, thoughtful, and curious enough to ask you what you're feeling or even calls you on your stuff."
Sources from this article: Why You Get 'the Ick,' According to Psychologists