When it comes to dating and relationships, I can’t tell if my anxiety messes with my thinking or if it’s my gut instinct telling me something or if it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy or something.

For example, I’d been talking to someone for 6 months. We would talk so easily for hours almost everyday. At about the 3-month mark I felt this person pulling away (wasn’t sure if it was gut instincts or anxiety) and when I called the person out/asked them about it, they said they felt I was always going to end up asking for reassurance too much. I then told them about my anxiety and this person told me they had depression so they dissociate sometimes. I did research and came up with an easy way to communicate when they could tell me they’re backing off because of the effects of that by sending an emoji (figured it was easier for them than explaining when they’re dissociating and it would immediately ease my anxiety) and everything went back to normal. Fast forward a couple of months, I would give more space every time they stopped responding to messages because I didn’t want a repeat of that and they would pop up again chatting like everything was normal, making plans, expressing excitement, sending photos of their day etc. so I tried not to question it (but despite agreeing to the emoji system, this person never used it). Then one day, mid-conversation, they randomly ghosted and blocked me on WhatsApp and another social media site but not on Instagram for some reason. The last thing they ever sent was a question - I just don’t understand it all. I immediately removed them from Instagram. I tried reaching out for an explanation after quite a lot of time passed but nothing.

I already struggle to trust myself because of my anxiety but now this has made it so much worse (that’s aside from creating a new fear of even investing in an attachment again). Does anyone know how to distinguish between anxiety and gut instincts?

Like I know ghosting is a reflection of them and not my own worth (I get that now after 2 months of beating myself up) but I’m afraid of how this conflict between anxiety vs gut instincts will manifest in future relations now. So I was wondering if anyone had tips on distinguishing between the two? Any advice would be really appreciated!