Freyd coined the term betrayal blindness to explain how adults can forget or simply not know when we’re being hurt in an intimate relationship. She explains that “because we are dependent on the betrayer—our next best defense is to block out awareness of the betrayal; in other words, a kind of mental freeze (betrayal blindness) is our next best option.”29 Freyd helps us understand how this psychological adaptation to danger is based on an extreme need to keep a situation intact, whether “maintaining a marriage, keeping a family together, or holding on to one’s position in a community.”
