Therapists, researchers and an etiquette expert weigh in on when you can disappear with a clear conscience and the ways to get around it. About a decade ago, Brenna Holeman was on the perfect first date with a man she’d met on a dating app. It was a rainy night in a cosy London bar, and before the date even ended — with a kiss — they’d breathlessly made plans for their next rendezvous.
“He even texted me that night saying, ‘I can’t stop smiling,’” recalled Holeman, 40, a travel writer now based in Canada. She added that he also wrote, “I can’t wait to see you again.” But when she texted to confirm the timing for their next date , there was radio silence.
Ghosting, the popular term for cutting off all communication without explanation, has become an inescapable part of modern dating. And it can be even harder to stomach than flat-out rejection, psychologists and researchers said, because it involves uncertainty..
