My boyfriend always ghosts me after an argument until I apologise, once it lasted a week

DEAR DEIDRE: WHENEVER I fall out with my boyfriend, he cuts off all contact until I apologise.

We’re both 20. It started just after we met.

We fell out over something stupid at college, and he ignored me for a week.

I thought he’d dumped me, but he messaged me again like nothing had happened.

Now he does it every time we disagree or I say something he doesn’t like.

My mum caught me crying about it, and she says it’s “stonewalling”.

Is it bad? Apart from this I’m really happy with our relationship.

DEIDRE SAYS:  Stone-walling is when someone refuses to talk.
Stonewalling partners tend to use different methods: changing the subject, evading your questions, going silent or storming off.

But they’re all just ways of controlling you.

We often think of stone-walling as harmless but, in fact, it’s a form of emotional abuse.