I have a boyfriend, I need a break but I'm afraid the conversation would lead to a permanent break up.

I feel like we have started taking each other for granted and we have been having an unusually increased amount of petty fights.

Relationship problems are resolved with communication and working together, not by further distance and putting the relationship in a "time-out." So if you want to fix things, sit down for a talk about your problems (including the sexual issues), and approach it as you and him together versus the problem, not you versus him. Maybe don't list all the specifics that will make him feel like your relationships sucks. Pick two broad categories, like "communication" and "intimacy" as areas you feel your relationship needs help with, and list the sex stuff as an example of intimacy, and the fights and as a communication issue, and the taking each other for granted as a combination of intimacy and communication. If you don't actually want to work on this, and your desire for a "break" is really a desire to just be the hell away from him but you're scared of ending up alone so you want to call it "break" so you have a backup plan to spinsterhood, just cut him loose, tell him you're unhappy and unfulfilled in the relationship, and you wish him well, but you're breaking up.

Love isn't enough for a healthy relationship. You also need to be compatible in a lot of ways (emotional and social needs, communication styles, values, sexual needs, visions for the future, commitment levels, boundaries, etc). You need to be able to talk about this stuff, and not expect a break to make you more compatible and fulfilled in the relationship than you actually are. At best, a break is going to give you temporary respite from feeling frustrated with your lack of fulfillment in the relationship, but then you get back together and those same old problems and incompatibilities start building up again, because you didn't actually resolve them.

/r/relationships Thread