“Without love bombing, we wouldn’t have been together as long as we were,” Josie (they/them) shares, reflecting on a long-term relationship that turned sour over time. “My ex used love bombing as a manipulation tactic. They’d make me feel guilty that I didn’t love them as much and that I had to prove myself,” they note. “It happened gradually, turning from being a seemingly nice thing of someone being interested in you and giving you nice things, to it being held against you to guilt trip and justify other abusive behaviours.”
Love bombing – lavishing attention on