If your boyfriend or girlfriend starts giving one particular body part extra attention, it might be time to prepare yourself for the worst.
When you’ve been romantically involved with someone for a while, you fall into a rhythm. You notice little things about them — changes in their demeanor or a shift in their tone of voice.
And now, girls on TikTok have identified a new warning sign to keep an eye out for: if your significant other plants a kiss on your forehead, watch out, your relationship might just be on its way out the door.
Now classed the ‘the forehead kiss of doom and despair’ this conversation took off after TikTok creator Mads posted a video captioned: ‘When he kisses you on the forehead so you immediately know you have less than 48 hours before you never speak again.’
More than 109,000 views and over 14,000 likes later and the girlies are in agreement — a forehead kiss sends you to the relationship graveyard.
So why has this particular form of affection got everyone stressed out? Is it just another symptom of situationship anxiety or is the internet actually on to something here?
Forehead kisses — sweet or suspicious?
Forehead kisses are the marmite of physical affection — you either love them or you hate them. But are they really a sign that something sinister is on the horizon?
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Relationship expert, Claire Rénier, encourages us to remember that ‘everyone expresses their affection in different ways.’
‘Some people may prefer more traditional romantic gestures, like a kiss on the lips, whereas others may lean towards subtler displays — and both of these can completely depend on you or your partner’s mood or feelings at the time,’ she continues.
Harriet, 26, has been in a relationship with her s/o for three years and thinks that context is everything when receiving a forehead kiss.
‘If I was just coming home from work then I wouldn’t be worried,’ she tells Metro. ‘But maybe if we were in bed getting close, I’d feel differently. I mean, I don’t wear Charlotte Tilbury pillow talk on my forehead,’ she joked.
Claire reiterates this mindset, emphasising that if ‘the type of physical affection that your partner displays towards you has dramatically changed,’ only then does it make sense to consider any potential shifts or rifts in the relationship.
Sophie, 26, who’s almost got half a decade under her belt with her boyfriend, agrees that while she usually wouldn’t question a forehead kiss, if her and her boyfriend were going through a rocky patch she’d likely freak out.
She told Metro: ‘Forehead kisses can be a really nice way to feel close while not engaging in serious PDA, but if he only ever wanted to kiss me there I’d definitely think we were going to break up’.
But for some, a forehead kiss is actually very intentional. Chimmy, 27, who is single, told Metro ‘I find something like that to be quite deep, as it’s unusual.’
He actually suggested that he’d consider a cheek kiss to be more dismissive in nature.
‘Forehead kisses to me feel like they’d be reserved for someone special — I wouldn’t just do that with anyone. At least definitely not anyone I’d want to break up with anytime soon.’
Essentially, if your partner all of sudden starts planting smooches on your head, it’s important to not jump to conclusions.
‘Not everything may be a sign that your relationship is doomed,’ Claire states. ‘It might simply be that they’re tired or have been struggling to find the time to dedicate to you.’
Alongside having an honest conversation with your partner, Claire also recommends ‘having a think about whether their behaviour has changed in any other way, such as if they’re less chatty or communicative with you, and why this might be.’
Why are we psychoanalysing everything?
Modern love is a mess. So while the forehead kiss of doom and despair might seem like a silly TikTok trend, it’s reflective of how unhappy daters are right now.
We’re so fed up with the dating world that we’ve started assigning importance to anything and everything — trying to pinpoint the inevitable moment when romance will let us down once again.
‘When your phone is filled with posts that show men showering their partners with elaborate displays, it’s easy for women to become insecure in their own relationships and question why their partner’s gestures don’t measure up to what other boyfriends are doing,’ Claire notes.
‘It’s crucial to not take notice of every single online opinion, and to focus on what is most helpful for you and your partner. Remember, the only people who know your relationship is the two of you,’ she concludes.
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