Ghosting is a fairly new dating term that means to “cut [someone] off completely” with “no forewarning,” according to relationship expert Susan Winter. For the most part, ghosting is rude, since you aren’t giving the other person a heads up that it’s over, but in some cases, ghosting is necessary.

If your boundaries are getting crossed, your time is being wasted, or you don’t feel safe or respected, it’s time to ghost them. If someone is always flaking on you in the beginning of a relationship, it’ll only get worse later on, and if they are sending unwanted messages or pictures over and over, you should ghost them for your own safety.

Abuse comes in all kinds of forms, which can include lying, manipulation, and gaslighting, so before the problems escalate, you should cut people who do this out of your life. People that treat you with no respect only think about themselves, so you’ll be protecting yourself by simply letting them go.