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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to leave him due to HIS insecurities

42 replies

wildone03 · 11/01/2019 12:36

So my Fiance thinks I'm be cheating on him.. Im 100% not and i wouldn't. I've reiterated this many times to him.

I know this is not about me. He's feeling REALLY insecure about himself at the mo and is in self sabotage mode.

If im not at work im with him and/or my DD. I work with all men and i know he doesn't like that but i love my job and its not something i'm willing to compromise on to make him feel secure. He either trusts me or his doesn't right?

I hate being accused of something I'm not doing and i would not do.

OP posts:
sweeneytoddsrazor · 11/01/2019 21:41

It is obviously hard to live with someone so insecure but I guarantee if you were posting from the other perspective i.e you were feeling insecure the advice would be trust your instincts check his phone ect. Has he had an professional help with his feelings.?

Momo18 · 11/01/2019 21:43

Wow. So he's insecure and branded abusive. Plenty of women share their insecurities on here and are given compassion and advice to overcome them. OP if he's otherwise great then I'd try and work on it. Set firm boundaries, he needs to resolve his insecurities by working on himself. When I met my DH I was how you described, it was only from speaking to people on Mumsnet did i realise how damaging and wrong it was to accuse my then bf of anything and everything. I worked on myself, I literally had to rewire all my bad faulty thinking from scratch. Eventually it became second nature and I overcame it and I behave like a rational human being now.

I will say though that he has to want to change, this isn't something you should just tolerate.

wildone03 · 11/01/2019 21:52

Thank you Momo.. he is great otherwise, we have been together 2.5 years and knows i won't leave my job and doesnt ever ask me too.

If he was trying to control me he wouldn't offer to look after my DD when we have work events so i can go. Its really not like that.

Ive never been with someone so insecure and is only like this when he loses confidence in himself.

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Crunchymum · 11/01/2019 21:54

Voicing insecurity to this degree is controlling behaviour.

Everyone has moments of insecurity (it's human nature!).... but you have a choice how you deal with it?

OP - Out of interest, what line of work are you in if you are the only female?

Crunchymum · 11/01/2019 21:58

Does he have your DD so you can go to work events and then question you about the event after?

Does he throw it back in your face that he "looked after DD whilst you were out with all the blokes" ?

Does he sulk, moan, give you the silent treatment after one of these nights out?

Does he contact you frequently when you are out without him?

MitziK · 11/01/2019 22:02

More likely his ex finally broke after 16 years of being told she wasn't trustworthy, was subjected to whining about being around men at work and either walked to be told repeatedly that this proves she was cheating on him and she should just admit it - or was so fucked off with it, she finally decided she may as well be hung for a sheep as an imaginary lamb and did it.

Are you getting snidey comments about who you're putting on makeup for/wearing nice shoes/a skirt/anything other than sackcloth and ashes/washing/brushing your hair for yet?

They're on their way.

AtrociousCircumstance · 11/01/2019 22:05

It doesn’t matter what the reason is. Whether it’s the insecurities of a man with self esteem problem, or the abusive attempts of a controlling arsehole. The result is the same.

Continue this relationship at your peril, it will just get worse.

wildone03 · 11/01/2019 22:08

Crunchymum - no he does absolutely none of those things. Tells me to have a good night and asks me if i had one when i get home.. im an office manager for a construction company.

I work in a very relaxed office for a very good/flexible growing company (only 8 of us and a dog at the mo). I wear jeans and jumpers to work, no make up.

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wildone03 · 11/01/2019 22:10

Are you getting snidey comments about who you're putting on makeup for/wearing nice shoes/a skirt/anything other than sackcloth and ashes/washing/brushing your hair for yet?

Never had any of this from him either.

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PocketFluff · 11/01/2019 22:25

As a few other people have said, I would try to encourage him to work on his insecurities. He needs help, not just by being reassured that you won't cheat but by trying to get to the root of the problem and boosting his self esteem.

Isleepinahedgefund · 11/01/2019 22:34

Do you think you can live with it? It’s up to you really isn’t it. Personally I found that what started out as jealousy turned into coercive control one he though I was settled with him for good.

I think the important thing to remember here is that you cannot expect or make people change. Either you accept him as he is, or you don’t. If you want him to “work on it” make it tangible, e.g, he goes to counselling.

I had a boyfriend who was horribly paranoid and jealous every time I spoke to anyone male. It took me a while to realise actually, as he was quite subtle about it. I was committed to him, told him and showed him this, it wasn’t enough. I asked him what the root of the issue was and he said that when he was at college (more than 20 yrs previously) he and his friend had liked the same girl and she chose to go out with his friend. Ever since them, he’s thought all his girlfriends were cheating on him. I couldn’t help him with that, so I moved on!

Lollypop701 · 11/01/2019 22:44

I have one of those... honestly tell him you’re done and are leaving if he doesn’t stop. Not because you don’t love him, but you want to end up hating reassuring/pandering to him constantly. I meant it as It was my truth tbh. Hasn’t happened since

Queenofthedrivensnow · 11/01/2019 23:25

The whole it's because he loses confidence in himself......nah

MistressDeeCee · 11/01/2019 23:33

From your later posts OP I can't see what the big problem is. If he's as great as you say with just odd moments of insecurity and you don't see him as being controlling at all then just reassure him.

jacks11 · 12/01/2019 02:49

OP, I'm a bit confused here. Either this is or is not a problem for you. You say it is, then go on to excuse his behaviour and say it's not often, And he's really perfect in every other way. Few people are all bad, and he may be an otherwise pleasant enough person- but he is not a good partner to you at present and that is reason enough to leave.

It does sound there may be reasons for him acting this way- but that is all they are- they aren't excuses. And it isn't ok to make you feel upset and hurt, or to accuse you of something you haven't done or to make you feel guilty. You aren't responsible for whatever happened in the past and aren't responsible for his feelings of insecurity.

The other issue you have here OP is that if this is simply all about his low self-esteem and so on, rather than attempts to be controlling/abusive- you do realise that you can't fix this? You'll never be able to be supportive/loving enough that he feels secure. You'll never be able to prove to his satisfaction that you really are trustworthy- there will always be a "but" and a "what if" or a "well maybe you haven't done it yet, but you will/you're tempted" etc. Your partner is the only one who can fix this- but it doesn't sound like he really sees there is a problem- or rather, he thinks the problem is that you are having an affair and so he is justified in his behaviour.

He may not have said "please leave your job, I hate that you work with so many men" and he may look after your DD to let you go and so on. And yet you are still very aware that he does not like the fact you work in a male dominated environment and would rather you left. So he doesn't have to actually have said "leave your job" to make you well aware of his feelings on the matter.

I'd say what he is doing, regardless of the underlying cause, is very manipulative- whether it is consciously done or not. Manipulation is one way of gaining control- it's not as controlling as stopping you going out or making you phone every 10 minutes or something. But it is a subtle form of control nonetheless.

I wouldn't personally put up with it as I would find being told that I am untrustworthy, a liar, deceitful and selfish (which is what I would feel a partner who constantly accused me of cheating is essentially saying, IMHO) would be intolerable. I would resent the attempts at manipulation. And I suspect I would lose any respect I had for them because they were being so unreasonable. Whatever the reasons for their behaviour.

I think it's a bad example to set a child too, if I'm honest.

Overall, only you can decide what you are willing to put up with. If you want to work on it, then you need to decide your boundaries/"red lines" and sit down and have a serious chat about how things have to change and have a tangible plan about how that is going to be achieved rather than accepting empty promises. But if you make the threat to leave if his behaviour doesn't change, you need to mean it.

Lovingbenidorm · 12/01/2019 03:03

I really couldn’t be doing with this. Lack of self esteem that leads to suspicion is highly unattractive. He sounds needy
Can’t see it changing tbh.

wildone03 · 12/01/2019 16:07

Jacks11 - very well put thank you. The accusations are very much a problem for me and i am on the verge of saying sort it or im leaving i guess i just wanted some confirmation that i have covered all i can without losing my dignity or respect and pandering to his needs.

I love him and i hurts to hear him say im acting suspiciously when im.doing nothing wrong.

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