I (25M) recently broke up with my girlfriend (23F), and I’ve been going back and forth in my head about whether I did the right thing.
When we first started dating, things were honestly great. She was sweet, funny, and we clicked really fast. But after a couple months, I started noticing that she was leaning on me a lot emotionally. Over time it got really intense. I became the person she went to for literally everything. If she had a bad day, I had to drop what I was doing to talk her through it. If I didn’t respond fast enough, she’d get anxious or upset. She would say things like I was the only thing keeping her okay, or that she didn’t know what she’d do without me. That started to feel like a lot of pressure. I felt more like her therapist than her boyfriend. I suggested she talk to a professional or build a support system outside of just me, but she would either brush it off or say she only felt comfortable opening up to me.
It started affecting my own mental health. I felt drained all the time and kind of trapped, like if I pulled back even a little I’d be "abandoning" her. I have felt much better about breaking up with her but still feel a bit guilty. Did I do the right thing?