In this video, Dr. Doug Weiss goes over the characteristics of Intimacy Anorexia and the different resources we have to combat it.

Intimacy Anorexia is the active withholding of spiritual, emotional and sexual intimacy from a spouse. Everyone else can think the man or woman is a wonderful person, but inside the marriage, their spouse feels alone, disconnected, unwanted and rejected. This pain inside the marriage is from the Intimacy Anorexia. Here are several characteristics to tell if your spouse is intimacy anorexic:

1. Busy - stays so busy that they have little time just for you but time for everything else

2. Blame - blames you on a regular basis for the problems in the marriage

3. Withholding Love - does not love you in the way you receive love or like to be loved (They know how by loving you to get out of trouble.)

4. Withholding praise - finds it very hard to praise you or do it very infrequently

5. Withholding spiritually - doesn't pray, connect or open up their heart spiritually to you

6. Withholds sex - is disconnected during sex or don't have sex with you for weeks, months or years

7. Withholding Feelings - is unwilling or unable to share their feelings with you

8. Anger or silence - maintains or creates distance to avoid being intimate

9. Criticism - is constantly critical with ongoing or ungrounded criticism

10. Money - limits or controls money from you

11. Roommate- they treat you not like a spouse but like a roommate (that’s how the relationship feels like)

If you are the spouse of an Intimacy Anorexic, you are dealing with real pain and trauma from the lack of love and intimacy. The trauma of being married to an IA is the same as those who experience infidelity and sex addiction. Being subjected to negative memories and thoughts, feeling isolated and depressed, and lack of sex is quite degrading.

However, you are not alone in your struggle. There is hope to receive healing and for the two of you to get better. For over 30 years, Dr. Doug Weiss has been helping thousands of men and women heal and break free from the effects of intimacy anorexia. We have many different resources to help including books, DVDs, support groups, and counselors that can help guide you on the path to recovery and a better lifestyle.

Visit https://intimacyanorexia.com/ for more information.

Also, we have a test you can take to determine if Intimacy Anorexia® is the issue in your marriage. Take the test here:

https://intimacyanorexia.com/ia-test/

If you're the partner of an Intimacy Anorexic®, we call that Married and Alone. You can check out the series of books Dr. Weiss has written on that subject here:

https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/married-and-alone-set/

Married & Alone support group for female partners of male Intimacy Anorexics:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarriedandAlone/

Married & Alone support group for male partners of female Intimacy Anorexics:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/supportgroupSAIA/

Buy the Pain for Love DVD here: https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/pain-for-love-dvd/

For more information on Partner Betrayal Trauma®, go to https://partnerbetrayaltrauma.org/

For the Partner Betrayal Trauma DVD, visit: https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/partner-betrayal-trauma-dvd/

For the Partner Betrayal Trauma book, visit:

https://www.drdougweiss.com/product/partner-betrayal-trauma-book/

You can join the PBT Facebook recovery groups as well:

https://partnerbetrayaltrauma.org/partner-betrayal-trauma-support-groups/

Doug Weiss, Ph.D., is a nationally known author, speaker and licensed psychologist. He is the executive director of Heart to Heart Counseling Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the author of several books including, Partner Betrayal Trauma ™.

For information on marriage counseling and intensives, go to https://www.drdougweiss.com/counseling/

For a full list of Dr. Doug’s products, go to https://www.drdougweiss.com/store/

You may contact Dr. Weiss via his website, www.drdougweiss.com or on his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/drdougweiss/

by phone at 719-278-3708 or through email at [email protected].