Casual dating is all about having a little fun when you want it. There are no strings attached here, but you might want to stop after a while. There are three common reasons why you might want to stop casual dating, which we will reveal below.

If you go off the person

It is normal for your sexual preferences to change. It is also normal to be attracted to someone one day and not the next.

If you find that you dislike the person you meet up with, we would recommend you stop dating them immediately. Casual dating does require a level of sexual intimacy and if you don’t like someone then having sex with them will be a horrible affair. Cut ties if you go off someone and don’t look back. There’s plenty more out there.

When you develop feelings

In casual relationships, the aim is never to get committed. But we’re all human and developing feelings for someone you have sex with is normal. You’d be a robot if you didn’t, but how healthy is it to let those feeling swell?

It isn’t healthy at all. If you’re in a casual relationship with someone, that means you meet up when it suits you both and have sex. You sleep next to them, wake up the next morning and go about your normal life. That’s the whole point of casual dating – that you don’t allow the other person to become part of your normal life.

If it starts happening – a text during the day here, a coffee lunch break together there – you will find yourself developing emotional feelings for the person. If you do not want a relationship, we would say now is the time to stop casual dating that person. If you don’t, it will be even harder for you to let them go in the future.

When they develop feelings

This is an even harder situation because breaking someone else’s heart is much more horrible than your own. You will feel like pure crap after cutting ties to the person, but this must be done if you don’t want a relationship.

If you don’t cut ties, you will end up leading them on. You could state affirmatively that you only want sex, but knowing the other person wants more is unfair. It’ll be like giving your cat a strip of chicken when you’ve dangled the breast.

If the other person makes their feelings known to you and you don’t feel the same way or don’t want a relationship at all, you must make this known. Leaving hope in the other person’s mind is cruel in this situation. All that’ll happen is they’ll keep contacting you which by now will be annoying. Because of the informal nature of casual dating, it is normal to cut ties by text or phone. You don’t have to do it in person.

Lastly, if you’re not enjoying the casual dating scene, exercise self-control and stop. It’s entirely up to you whether to stick with it.