Vanishing act: The realities and impacts of ghosting on those left behind

Dominic Pettman's experience of witnessing his father's brother ghost his family has led to a life-long fascination with the act of ghosting. He chats to Suzanne Harrington about the age-old practice.  

“Abandonment is as old as people... There’s something about the term ‘ghosting’ that captures the moment, the specific zeitgeist of our time. 

We associate ghosting with modern dating, but vanishing lovers are as old as time — the only difference is that these days, they can disappear digitally as well as physically. 

And while we think of ghosting as a particularly brutal aspect of romantic relationships, it happens within all realms of human connection — familial and platonic, professional and social, as well as intimate relationships.