On Attachment #233: How to Put an End to Situationships (Once & For All)
Feb 17, 2026
Why situationships keep people stuck and anxious. How hope, ambiguity, and intermittent rewards create addictive uncertainty. The role of anxious-avoidant dynamics and nervous-system responses in prolonging limbo. How avoiding clarity becomes self-abandonment. Practical turns: raising standards, insisting on consistency, and releasing mismatched partners.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
What Defines A Situationship
- Situationships feel like relationships but lack commitment and clarity, creating prolonged uncertainty.
- Stephanie Rigg highlights they can persist even for years and are defined by behavior, not time.
Silence Is Often Self-Abandonment
- People often avoid asking for clarity when they sense interest is waning because they're afraid of rejection.
- Stephanie Rigg calls that moment of silence the first act of self-abandonment.
Two Sides Of Avoidance
- Situationships enable others' avoidance while reflecting our own avoidance in a different form.
- Rigg explains our avoidance aims to hold someone close rather than keep them at arm's length.