The Avoidant Experience: Love, Numbness & Inner Conflict With Bilnita Armstead

In this episode, I sit down with Bilnita Armstead, a listener of the podcast, who shares her experience navigating a dismissive/fearful avoidant attachment style. We talk about how early relationship patterns, often learned from our parents, shaped her view of love and connection, and how getting hurt in relationships led her to become emotionally numb and avoidant. She opens up about the push-pull dynamic, feeling secure when single but deeply triggered in relationships, and the mental torment that can come with it—including overthinking, relationship OCD, and constantly questioning feelings. We also explore how things like intense butterflies, cheating as a coping mechanism, and black-and-white thinking played a role in her patterns. Most importantly, this conversation normalizes these experiences and highlights the shift into learning how to sit in the “gray space,” develop self-awareness, and begin showing yourself grace as you heal and move toward more secure ways of relating.