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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DH is being selfish - please tell me if I'm BU

275 replies

FlyingTingTing · 26/02/2019 17:05

I'm so miserable right now.
Background info so as not to drip feed:

Been married to DH for 12 years (we're both early 30s.)
He's always been quite inconsistent, e.g. one minute he wants to do something, gets all excited and passionate about it, then the next minute he changes his mind.
We've mostly been happy. He suffers from depression and anxiety and goes through periods of deep, dark depression where he tends to act a bit selfishly , doesn't want to do anything or see anyone, can be quite horrible, says hurtful things like he wished he'd never got married, thinks he'd be happier being single etc Sad

He's cheated on me twice. Once was 10 years ago, the last occasion was 2 years ago. The last time was the worst. The affair lasted 6 weeks and he lied to me constantly during this time. I only found out by accident. My mental health was quite bad (I suffer with anxiety myself) and this almost killed me. I had to be put on strong meds and was under the care of a mental health team.
He was surprised when I said I wanted to forgive him and was somewhat taken aback I think . I made it clear that i wanted to forgive him and make it work but the road back from infidelity is a difficult one ,and I expected him to do certain things (delete her number, never contact her again) which he did.
He swore he would get help, swore he loved me to bits, swore it was a terrible terrible mistake, swore it would never happen again because he couldn't bear to do that to me again. He swore to do whatever it took, for as long as it took.

Fast forward 2 years to now..He's recently been through another selfish, depressive phase (I've tried my best to be really supportive. ) I've tried to ignore his mean comments.

The last few weeks have been hell. He wants to travel alone. Says it's always been something he wants to do, ALONE. Abroad, without me.

I'm not comfortable with it at all. I think it's because of the previous way he's behaved, but if I'm honest then I probably haven't ever been comfortable with it, even before he cheated. I feel like I would miss him too much, and my anxiety would be too much while he's gone, not knowing where he is or who he's with.
Now he has two affairs under his belt, the trust between us is understandably damaged a lot, and this is a huge factor now too.

I am starting to trust him again (or I was.)
I'm trying to leave the affair in the past and move on, but I can't pretend to be ok with something that would make me uncomfortable.

He's really angry with me for not agreeing to what he wants and is accusing me of being controlling and of keeping him "trapped. "
Last week I tried to compromise and said why didn't he book a few days away with his sister? He agreed. Then I asked why doesn't he go away travelling by himself to visit our friend who lives in Italy ? (This would make me feel more comfortable. )
He agreed and I thought we'd reached a compromise.

Today he comes in saying how unhappy he is with life, he shouldn't have got married at such a young age (22) and he's "just going to do it whether I like it or not."
Apparently I'm controlling him by dictating what he does with his life and who he sees. The compromise we reached isn't enough. He wants to go abroad ALONE and he's booking it right now.
He also made it clear he's not happy about my wishes regarding meeting up alone with female friends (This was because of his past infidelity).

I get sworn at every time I try to talk to him about the subject.

AIBU to not want my husband to travelling by himself?
Apparently "other wives let their husband do it" and I need "to let go and deal with my own anxiety issues. "

OP posts:
Lostwithoutdirections · 26/02/2019 18:22

From what you’ve posted, he doesn’t want the marriage to continue and seems to be pushing for you to be the one to call it off.

Let him go and build a better life for yourself

WhoKnewBeefStew · 26/02/2019 18:23

What to do?

Pack him a bag, then pack all his stuff and ask him to leave permanently

Do not have a child with this man

And on a side note, your anxiety and mh issues are probably as a result if living with a dick

TheSecondMrsAshwell · 26/02/2019 18:23

The man's a fecking mess.

I don't want a baby.
I don't want a baby.
I don't want a baby.
I don't want a baby.
I don't want a baby.
I want a baby and if you don't have one, I'll leave.

I have to wonder what would happen if you say, "alright, go on holiday and when you come back, we'll sort a divorce so I'm not holding you back."

Most people on here say he wants out of the marriage. I'll have a quiet fiver each way on him either changing his mind and staying (and trying for that baby) or desperately trying to get back with you when he comes home.

Do yourself a favour.

Mysterycat23 · 26/02/2019 18:29

OP "My DH is acting like a twat, is he a twat"

MN "Yes he is a twat"

OP "Oh no I'm pathetic"

OP no one is blaming you or asking you to justify your past decisions. The past is gone, dead, literally never coming back. Whereas your future is alive and real.

Get the fuck out and grab onto YOUR life with both hands.

Ruru8thestars · 26/02/2019 18:29

The spineless twat wants you to end the marriage because he doesn’t have the guts to. He doesn’t love you anymore from his behaviour; it looks like he has been sabotaging the relationship to push you to breaking point. You need to leave.

LEDadjacent · 26/02/2019 18:33

Do not have children with this man.

Raspberry10 · 26/02/2019 18:36

He’s told you who is he and what he wants. Please listen to him. What do you want? Do you want to live like this forever, always on eggshells, waiting for him to cheat on you again? You’re young, with your whole life ahead of you. Don’t stay because you think you’ve invested 12 years in this already Flowers

FlyingTingTing · 26/02/2019 18:36

He's just woken up and come in to say he DOES love me and he truly doesn't want our marriage to end.
Apparently I'm over reacting.

OP posts:
Wheresthebeach · 26/02/2019 18:39

Oh for God's sake let him travel and see a lawyer while he's away.

He's awful. Staying is 'throwing good money after bad' I'm afraid.

Yikes.

IsAStormApporaching · 26/02/2019 18:42

OP I have sever anxiety and depression.
I have had unpredictable moods over the last 5 years with my dp. I have has doubts over the relationship we were in fur to my illness.
But I have never cheated as even when I was sick/ mentally unwell my dp was still someone I cared for and would never hurt that way.
He is using his illness to get away with whatever he likes.

And to be honest it seems like he is looking for a way for you to end the relationship so he is not the bad guy.

TheInvestigator · 26/02/2019 18:44

This is one of those threads which is completely pointless. OP isn't going to listen to anything or even consider re-evaluating her situation.

WhoKnewBeefStew · 26/02/2019 18:45

He's just woken up and come in to say he DOES love me and he truly doesn't want our marriage to end.
Apparently I'm over reacting.

Of course he’s come back with this now you’ve called his bluff.

He was saying the most nastiest, most horrible thing he could think of to hurt you. That’s because he’s a nasty, horrible man!

DontDribbleOnTheCarpet · 26/02/2019 18:47

How long is he going for? Is it just a fairly standard-length holiday, or is he thinking of giving up work and going off on a more extended jolly? Are you going to be expected to subsidise this?

Actually, it probably doesn't matter. For whatever reason, he is treating you badly. He knows this and he keeps on doing it. He doesn't love you, he is manipulative and unfaithful. I don't think there is a happy ending here, I'm so sorry.

PtahNeith · 26/02/2019 18:48

This reads like coercive control to me.

Vile, hurtful behaviour blamed on "depression".

Alternating between threatening to leave and trying to tie you into the relationship.

Alternating between seemingly loving behaviour and deliberately hurtful behaviour.

Trying to coerce you into having a baby (which would leave you tethered to him for life and susceptible to his attempts to control you, divorce or not).

Behaving abominably and then telling you you've overreacted for being hurt like any normal human being would be in the circumstances.

Unpredictable "mood swings" that leave you walking on eggshells and have trashed your mental health.

Threatening to leave so you'll panic and do what he wants.

The fact that you say he has "always" been like this. It's not a reaction to anything, it's not depression, it's classic domestic abuse.

Google "trauma bonding", op, if you want an insight into why you were desperate to go back to him after you left previously.

And have a look here www.freedomprogramme.co.uk

PtahNeith · 26/02/2019 18:50

By the way, people who genuinely love you do not behave the way you've described.

His actions show he does not love you, regardless of whatever manipulative words he chooses to use.

I'm sorry.

MulticolourMophead · 26/02/2019 18:50

@PtahNeith Good post, I had a lot of that crap from my ex.

sonjadog · 26/02/2019 18:52

I suspect in a way that he does love you. You have been a huge part of his whole adult life, as he has been in yours. However, he doesn't want to be married to you. He missed being young and single in his twenties and he wants to live the life now. He wants the marriage to end. All of the things he has done which you have written about here are sending that message loud and clear. He is also rather a weak character and he would like to find a way out that doesn't make him the bad guy, so he is trying to make it that you are the one who wants to end it.

GooodMythicalMorning · 26/02/2019 18:52

dh and I have been married the same amount as you. neither of us would accept this behaviour from each other. It would be over for us.

KillerSpider · 26/02/2019 18:52

Personally I wouldn’t have a problem if he went traveling abroad on his own.

It’s if he wanted to come back, that’s where the issue lies for me.

BrendasUmbrella · 26/02/2019 18:53

And he wants to go travelling alone, and he wants to have affairs, and he wants you to have his babies.

If you only do one proactive thing right now it should be to keep taking your contraception. Your DH doesn't know what he wants from day to day, and the addition of a tiny screaming human will make it worse. Can you imagine going through nine months of pregnancy with him changing his mind every week?

mammoon · 26/02/2019 18:58

This reads like coercive control to me.

That's exactly what I was just about to say. To be honest, he sounds pretty abusive, emotionally speaking. And I'd guess you need some support to get out of this relationship. Do you have any close friends or family members you could talk to? It helps to have people to listen to you. I second the advice to check out the freedom programme website.

Take care of yourself, OP Flowers

KeepCalm · 26/02/2019 19:05

This requires 3 stages.

  1. Hand him his passport and tell him not to let the door hit him on the arse on his way out.
  1. Whilst he's away travelling, file for divorce and move.
  1. Live your life.
Thanks
WinterSunglasses · 26/02/2019 19:07

Do what TheABC said, exactly that. It will make him back track big time - BUT don't then let him off the hook. All your posts are about him, what he does and what he wants. What about you? Time you went on holiday to 'find yourself'!

If you're worried you can't manage without him: let me tell you, I've been in that position, and you can. You will be amazed by what you are capable of, and what you can enjoy in life, without this bloke dragging you down.

HJWT · 26/02/2019 19:11

HE DOES NOT LOVE YOU!

My DH has severe depression, anxiety, PARANOIA, as well as autism to top it all of, and he would NEVER treat me like this!!

JasperKarat · 26/02/2019 19:13

OP I'm sorry but it sounds like he's trying to get you to end it. I had a huge row years ago with a male friend who would do this, he didn't have the balls to end a relationship so would treat his girlfriends like utter crap until they dumped him. Then he got a partner with mental health issues who wouldn't or couldn't walk away, I genuinely thought his behaviour would lead her to take her own life, he broke her and if you let him your partner is on the road to doing the same to you. Let him go and don't be there when he gets back