… do I get us back on the same page without it turning into a bigger fight?
Ah, the classic conflict mismatch: The pursuer and the withdrawer. One of you wants to talk it out now, the other wants to disappear under a blanket until further notice. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. According to the Gottman Institute, one of the top predictors of relationship dissatisfaction is something called “emotional flooding”, where one or both partners become so overwhelmed during conflict that they mentally (or literally) check out. This isn’t just dramatic behaviour, it’s a nervous system response.
What’s really …