Whoa, why do some men shut down when we (girlfriend/partner) are trying to explain how we feel about something, especially if we are hurt, and they feel hurt in return at the implication or at what it is we are accusing them of. Sometimes not even accusing, its just a matter of saying "hey you know what, when you did/said or didn't do/say this, it really hurt my feelings and made me feel like you don't care that much about me as I would like you to.
Why do they suddenly get angry or upset and then completely disengage? in my case, hang up the phone or log off the computer (msn conversation).
How common is this, what does it mean? I'm in a fairly new relationship, its strained because of the distance between us (half a world actually) so hanging up is quite literally hanging up and puts a very final end to the conversation. Why why why do people do this??? There couldn't be a louder or more straighforward way of saying "I don't care about your feelings and so I'm out of here".
What does it mean when man does this? I know my man loves and cares about me - or I thought he did! Why do men do this? I have never been in relationship with someone who does this, and personally its one of the most upsetting things I could come across. My God, if I don't find out why my boyfriend did this and what it means, perhaps he'd had enouch and needed some time out, but maybe ... maybe it really does mean he doesn't give a fllying rats ***.

This is doing my head in. are there any guys here who use that as a comping mechanism when they are upset, why do you do it, what does it mean, this sis the first time its happened and i feel completely shocked and slapped and rejected. Seriously, I don't know how I should take this.
Im wondering if this means its over. Surely if someone cares about your feelings they wouldn't just hang up on you like that? I would never ever hang up on the man I loved when he was in teh middle of explaining his hurt feelings to me. No matter how attacked I felt. And you know what, I wasn't actually attacking.
Why do they do it, does it mean they really don't care, and what shoudl I do? Clearly he doesn't want to talk to me about it, he's not answering his phone. My gut tells me to just leave him alone, does it mean it's over... i mean, that's throwing a really icy bucket of water over my feelings, why would you do that unless you're throwing in the towel and want to let them knwo you no longer care about them?

Am I doing a typical woman's reaction here and getting so upset and reading too much into it? Please, guys, help me out, I know there are many men out there who do this I just want to know why!