By shelby, 22, from washington:

How do I deal with my boyfriend being afraid of committing? He is 26. Things were fine but now he is freaked out (recently within the last two weeks) asking for space because we are hanging out too much (once or twice or week). I can understand that he needs time to adjust after being single for awhile and just getting a new girlfriend. Now he is not sure that he is ready for a girlfriend even though he says he really likes me and hanging out with me. I am giving him space like he asked but I can sit around for ever waiting for him to decide whether or not he wants to be with me. How long should I wait until I say something? We haven't been dating long, about two months (we have been "seeing" each other for about 5) a break up would suck because I really like him but that's where I feel that things are heading. I don't want to push him though since he is still undecided. At least if we breakup it's better now than later...

VictorM's advice:

This so-called "fear or commitment" by guys is really a myth, something that some girls latch on to as a way of deflecting an unwanted reality.

Either a guy feels he doesn't know a girl well enough to get too serious yet or he simply doesn't feel that the girl he's seeing is worth getting serious about. In the first case he'll want to see more of her because that's the only way to get to know her better. In the latter case, well, there are many ways to deal with that... one of them is to ask for a break.

One way or the other your guy is experiencing fear alright, but not of commitment -- he has fear of telling you the truth.