By It’s always rough when you end a relationship, but it can be even tougher when your ex does something that makes you wonder what they’re thinking.
One of the most puzzling behaviors is when your ex puts their head down as soon as they see you.
It can make you feel rejected every time it happens, but what they’re really trying to do is avoid the interaction and not put too much effort into talking to you.
So, here are 14 possible reasons why your ex puts their head down when they see you.
1) He may be feeling sad for you because your relationship didn’t work out
Have you ever wondered why your ex puts their head down when they see you or why they pretend that they don’t notice you?
It could be because they’re feeling sorry for you and don’t want to come off as smug.
You might have been in a relationship that didn’t end well, and when your ex sees you, maybe he feels that he dodged a bullet.
Or maybe the two of you were very much in love, and now he’s heartbroken to see you without him.
2) He may be ashamed
Maybe your ex does this because he’s ashamed of how the relationship ended.
It could be because he’s upset with himself for breaking up with you, and maybe he thinks that he shouldn’t be happy since you’re not.
Or maybe your feelings were hurt and it was his fault, and now every time he sees you, he thinks about what happened and feels guilty.
So, he may put his head down in a very subtle way to try and avoid the interaction.
3) He is trying to avoid conflict with you and just wants to walk away
Your past relationship might have been bad, and your ex may be trying to avoid the topic of it whenever they see you.
They might also be trying to save their pride by not having a difficult discussion with you.
Maybe they don’t want to get into a fight or because they’re not interested in the argument, so they do their best to avoid the situation.
So, here’s the deal:
If you always had a difficult relationship, your ex may be afraid that if you start talking, you’ll bring up something mean or even nasty. After all, it could be embarrassing to discuss something that didn’t work out.
4) He may feel guilty about the breakup
Your ex may feel guilty because he broke up with you or that he wasn’t there for you when you needed him.
Maybe your relationship failed due to one of the things that they did, and now they’re not sure if they should feel bad about it.
For example, maybe your ex is going through a lot of stress at work and doesn’t think that the relationship would have worked out anyway. Or maybe they don’t think that they properly took care of you when you were going through a difficult time.
They may worry that they hurt your feelings and that their actions made the situation worse. Because of this, he might put his head down in a very subtle way to avoid having a tough discussion.
5) He may want to show you that he doesn’t care
Here’s the truth:
Relationship drama is a roller coaster.
While you’re in the drama, it seems like it will never go away.
But once you get out, you realize that it was just a bump in the road and things move forward much more smoothly.
The relationship drama is over, so you may have moved on from each other and don’t feel bad about things anymore. This could be why your ex might brush off your greeting when he sees you by putting his head down without saying hello.
Maybe he doesn’t want you to get the wrong idea and think that he’s still upset about the past. Or perhaps it’s just a simple “fine” greeting as if he’s trying to avoid any drama in the present.
It could also be an indication that your ex really is over you and doesn’t care how you’re doing anymore.
6) He may not want you to see that he’s with someone new
He might also put his head down to avoid letting you catch a glimpse of his new partner.
Why?
Because he knows that you will just see it as a jealously-inspired act or that he’s not happy to see you. You may have gone out with your ex for a long time and were his main priority.
But now he has moved on, so he might be trying to avoid any questions regarding how the new relationship is going.
Your ex might also not want to explain why he ended the relationship with you now that there’s someone new in his life.
Or maybe he doesn’t want you to try and start things up again but instead wants you to move on so that it will be easier for him.
7) He may know that you are happy with your new partner and trying to avoid more drama
I know that when you first start dating someone, you believe that your relationship will last forever.
Therefore, your ex might be trying to avoid bringing up the past so that it doesn’t get awkward for you if he does see you with a new person.
Maybe there was something about your relationship that he didn’t like, and he wants to avoid discussing it because he knows that it will just make things harder on everybody involved.
Or maybe he’s acting this way because there are some feelings that still exist and he might want to avoid saying something that will hurt your feelings.
8) He may be feeling awkward about the situation
Who wants to act awkward when they’re the one greeting you?
Of course, you want to act normally and be happy when you see your ex. But maybe your ex is trying to avoid all awkwardness because he’s not really happy about seeing you and doesn’t want to seem weird or out of character.
Even though your relationship was bad, it may be very hard for him to smile and act friendly with someone who was formerly his significant other.
But also remember that…
In the end, he does see you and it’s only awkward for a few seconds.
The feeling goes away quickly when you both realize that it’s okay to be friendly with each other. And your ex may even want to act friendly with you if he sees that you’re not jealous or if you’re completely over him.
So, although it can be hard to look past this behavior at first, don’t take it personally.
9) He may be feeling vulnerable so he wants to protect himself
A lot of times, when you see your ex, it’s because you want answers or closure.
But sometimes you can’t get the answers that you want because he doesn’t want to talk about it. In fact, he may just put his head down while avoiding the situation altogether.
So why doesn’t he just talk to you?
Well, this is probably a result of how his relationship ended with you.
The relationship failed, and he’s not sure how to explain it to you or how he feels about it. He might be afraid that you’ll find out something that he doesn’t want you to know, so he wants to avoid any further discussion.
He just doesn’t feel like he has the answer or willingness to talk about it when things are still so new.
10) He may be trying to avoid an awkward conversation about your relationship
Another reason why your ex might put his head down is if he doesn’t feel like he can talk to you without having an awkward conversation.
Maybe the relationship was rocky, and your ex isn’t sure how to bring it up.
Or maybe there were things that happened during the relationship that still makes him angry, but he doesn’t know how to ask you about them.
He may also feel embarrassed about certain things that happened or questions that came up when you two were together.
For example, maybe he feels guilty about cheating on you and the burden of guilt prevents him from talking to you. If there are things that your ex wishes that he could go back and change, then it might take a while for him to be able to talk about what happened.
11) He may want you to give him space
As hard as it can be to act friendly and normal around your ex, it’s even harder for him.
He’s pretty much going through the same thing that you are, and he wants to avoid any questions about your relationship.
But it may not be easy for him because there are a lot of things that go through his mind when you see each other. Overall, he just wants you to give him some space so that he can get over things on his own.
He doesn’t want to feel the pain of a recent breakup when he’s not even sure how they occurred.
The last thing he wants is for you to feel like you have to be friends and talk about old times. He doesn’t want pressure from you or drama surrounding your relationship.
12) He may be feeling inferior in your presence
Even if you are over your ex, the breakup may cause some insecurities.
Maybe he can’t stop thinking about what happened, and he’s trying to figure out where things went wrong.
Maybe he thinks that your moving on is a slap in the face.
Or maybe he just feels inferior when you’re around him because you are happy now and have moved on with your life.
This feeling might make him feel even worse about his relationship with you. He may want to escape the situation because he just can’t handle your presence anymore.
13) He may not want to go through a complicated explanation of what happened between you two
Most people don’t enjoy talking about their past relationships, and that’s especially true for guys.
Your ex wants to leave things in the past, and he doesn’t want to have a conversation that will bring up all of his fears and insecurities about what happened.
And even if your relationship was bad, your ex may be afraid that you may not agree or understand his side of the story. He doesn’t want to put himself through the pain of talking about it with you.
It’s possible that he may just want to avoid hurting you any further because you’re already in pain.
14) He may have unresolved feelings for you
If your relationship ended because of circumstances that could not be resolved (i.e. long-distance, family problems, etc.), then it’s possible that your ex still has feelings for you but is embarrassed or afraid to tell you.
Even though your ex may not be happy with you, he may still have feelings that he doesn’t know how to deal with.
He doesn’t know how to respond to you, and he just wants to avoid any further uncomfortable conversations.
He may not have said anything because he doesn’t know how you would respond, so he just avoids the situation altogether.
And you might feel the same way about him, so it can be a vicious cycle of avoidance.
Final thoughts
I hope this article has helped you understand why your ex may act the way he does.
While these are all valid reasons for his behavior, it’s important to remember that it’s not personal.
Your ex just doesn’t want to talk about what happened between you guys and he doesn’t know how to put it into words for himself or for you.
But he’s been through a lot and he might need space to figure things out on his own before he can talk with you or start a new relationship.
So, just remember that even if the way your ex is acting around you hurts your feelings, it’s probably not personal. And hopefully, someday in the future, he will feel comfortable enough to talk about what happened between you guys.
