I posted a couple of days ago about problems arising over where my parents were going to spend Christmas. Well this has snowballed (pardon the pun) into a much much worse situation. DH has never really got on with my parents. Rightly or wrongly he believes they look down on him for not "providing" for me the way they think a husband should. They deny it of course, but I think he has a point.
Gradually over the years DH has come to accept the way my parents are - and I don't think they are deliberately being horrible at all. I think that, well, they don't think and don't realise how things come across. They have helped us out financially a fair bit because I don't earn very much in my own job and DH, as I said, is a SAHD most of the time. But things they say make both of us feel pretty obligated to them for this, although they will deny it obviously.
So there was a bit of a flare up over this Christmas thing the other day. DH got a bit heated and stormed out - my parents were "shocked". Things calmed down and DH thought that today he would phone to apologise. Part of putting some ghosts to rest as a result of therapy he's receiving for stress and depression (of which my parents are a tiny tiny part). It turned out to be a huge mistake.
My mum decided to accept his apology and then say how upset they were, how uncomfortable he made them feel and how "after all they've done for us" they don't understand why he was being like that. As you might imagine, that was like a red rag to a bull. DH had summoned up so much courage to make that phone call and he pretty much blew his top. So now we're back to square one - my parents refusing to acknowledge they've ever done anything wrong, and DH refusing to see them ever again.
DH has tonight admitted to me that when he isn't with DS he sometimes thinks he wants to end it all. I am desperately worried that this latest episode, when he was trying to move forward, will tip him over the edge.
If anyone's still with me - what can I do? Has anyone gone through anything similar, either with parents, or a depressed DH, or both? Thanks for listening.
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Relationships
A severely depressed SAHD husband who is at loggerheads with my parents. I need advice - please?
Twinklemegan · 02/10/2008 22:17
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