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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How would you deal with this? Husband issue

122 replies

DifficultDifficultLemonDifficu · 01/04/2022 01:42

I work in a law firm with mostly men, which has never been an issue. We have started going for lunch as a group and plan these group meals on whatsapp.

Husband seems to think because his last partner cheated on him, that I will. Ive offered for him to come (not interested) and to show him my phone but he'd rather I just stop participating in these group events.

I feel that's not fair for me, how would you go about this?

There's usually at least 5 of us at these lunches and they are once a week, so doesn't hurt the bank or anything

OP posts:
Drinkingallthewine · 01/04/2022 10:51

He's agreed to see a therapist after we had a chat a couple weeks ago.

Has he taken any steps towards this - shortlisting therapists/ calling for an appointment/ talking to his GP and getting a referral?

If yes then he may genuinely just be insecure and bringing previous emotional trauma into your marriage. In which case he would do whatever it takes to ensure the marriage he values remains one where you want to stay.

If he's not lifted a finger to find a therapist yet, then he has no intention of doing so, so I think you may have a common garden-variety controlling man on your hands who is looking to control and monitor every aspect of your life and dressing it up as insecurity on his part.

So which is it?

Insecurity is the most effective way of controlling someone because it feels like something that could be easily helped by a quick check-in message halfway through the night out. A little thing that reassures the partner you love, right. He just cares you got to your destination ok. Because he loves you. No harm. Right?

But it then becomes insidious. Like asking you to add the find my phone app to your phone, because the last time you didn't text him, he was worried. Or reading your messages, just for reassurance. Or face-timing when you are out with friends because he wants to see exactly where you are misses you.

And then it very slowly progresses to scrutinising what you are wearing, changing what you wear, why you put make-up on, or why you booked a hairdresser or a wax appointment, or bought a new dress. Why are you getting all dolled up going to work. And why the red knickers. Who are you fucking at work? You must be if you put on those because they are red. And have a bit of lace on them.

Gradually you'll phase out friends because your DP is insecure about your best friend's husband, or your sisters husband, or if you won't do it, he'll create a scene or a row which ensures that those people will draw away from you both.

It won't be enough to monitor your friends, your phone, he'll need to see your bank accounts as well. In fact, just let him control those altogether because you can't be trusted with financial matters because remember you went and bought underwear in M&S that time, and you were just restocking your knicker drawer and you wouldn't have told him only for he found the receipt in the bin. So you must have bought them to wear for an affair.

Or you'll agree to start a family, have a few kids then he'll make it difficult for you to return to work, so you are more reliant on him in every way. So even if you wanted to leave, you've got nowhere to go and no money to go.

That's how it starts, and how it progresses with a controlling man.

I very much hope that you do have someone who IS fixable and will undergo therapy and that it will work, but because the alternative is a miserable existance for you and any kids you'd have.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 01/04/2022 10:52

@Totalwasteofpaper

not speak to me at all for a month

This is called stone walling (Google It) and is particularly unpleasant form of abuse.

Not what you want to hear as he is so anxious blah blah.
My father did this to us... its damaging to say the least.
He started small and by my a levels was happily stonewalling me for 6 months+ because I wouldn't study medicine like he wanted. He went on to pretend my sibling didn't exist for 18 months.
It'd so dysfunctional I can't tell you.

I agree with @MadMadMadamMim it can't be salvaged. At no point in 30 DAYS did he think... maybe I should stop torturing my wife for an imagined crime she doesn't know she has committed??? Please... what bull shit
As aminimum
Keep going to the lunch do not stop even temporarily until therapy starts.
I'd be selecting the therapist and using therapy to explore separation.

This...

Red flags agogo...

Assuming you want to keep him...

All I would do... Give him ONE chance to engage in therapy re his controlling & jealous behaviour...

If he hadn't improved massively... We'd be divorced.

CardinalCat · 01/04/2022 11:00

I wasted years of my life on a man like this- very good years in my early 30s- which were spent reassuring him, dealing with his silent treatment and tantrums, placating him, bolstering his ego, a fortune spent on therapy. By the end of the relationship I was a husk of a woman- I'd completely lost myself in my attempts to try to fix him and make things work. My biggest regret is that I didn't leave when his trust issues first became apparent. So many wasted years and so much damage to my own health and mental state. It was 15 years ago and I'd say I've only recently recovered properly and "found myself" again.
This kind of behaviour is abuse. I wish someone had sat me down and spelled it out to me back then.
Only you can decide what to do with your marriage but please- do not end up like me.

CardinalCat · 01/04/2022 11:02

Fyi I was working in a white shoe US firm at the time and I know he found the socialising that went on in the law/finance world very hard. Fragile ego-ed men- what a turn off.

AryaStarkWolf · 01/04/2022 11:04

@DifficultDifficultLemonDifficu

He's agreed to see a therapist after we had a chat a couple weeks ago. I do love him but he does have his issues. Instead of telling me he thought I was cheating on him, he decided to withdraw and not speak to me at all for a month
He didn't speak to you for a month?? That's outrageous and abusive. His behaviour is completely unacceptable
godmum56 · 01/04/2022 11:11

aaaand once again the problem is not the problem. Sorry but he is pinning his mental health issues on you. (I would be better/wouldn't be like this if you would do/not do xxx)
I see that you are married, was he like this before and how long have you been together? Did you marry knowing that this was an issue? I do think that if you want your relationship to continue then you both need a plan to deal with it and that plan should not include your changing your life to deal with his issues.

RhymesWithBouquet · 01/04/2022 11:15

All the red flags here...
Do not try to explain or negotiate with him about why he's out of order.
Do continue to tell him he needs help.
Educate yourself about what he's doing by watching the excellent You Tube channel by a woman called Dr Ramani who talks about how narcissists operate.
Pretty please, don't wait, google it now and then take it from there. Whether you stay or go, you need to be aware of what you're dealing with so you can react appropriately and not get dragged down by it.

Neverreturntoathread · 01/04/2022 11:19

How would I deal with this?

I would tell him that half of the world is male, I work in a particularly male-dominated job, and if he thinks I am going to damage my career by attempting to avoid men to pander to his pathetic insecurities then he is barking mad.

I would tell him that ignoring me for a month is emotional abuse, childish, and all round pathetic.

I would tell him that crying when he doesn’t get his way is manipulative and unattractive

I would tell him that his behaviours are killing the marriage and either we have marriage therapy or a trial seperation.

Crumbleburntbits · 01/04/2022 11:24

My DH’s ex cheated on him which lead to their divorce. He has never, ever objected to me working or socialising with men. This is because my DH is not a controlling, manipulative, insecure, abusive loser. You should leave your husband.

MsMarch · 01/04/2022 11:30

Unless he's proactively dealing with his issues, please don't buy into the "it's just my insecurities" or whatever. It may or may not be true that he's insecure. But that doesn't give him the right to behave irrationally and treat you badly.

Two weeks ago while suffering from horrendous peri-menopausal PMS I had to remind myself that it wasn't an excuse to be rude, impatient and shouty with DH and the DS..... It's no different. We're allowed to struggle, but not to take it out on other people.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 01/04/2022 11:30

Just tell him to move out - now.

He's abusing you. Deliberately and consciously abusing you. Turning on the waterworks as soon as he thinks that will work better, refusing to speak when that does. He's a misogynistic prick - how dare he imply that all women are sexually untrustworthy? He doesn't see 'you', he's seeing a whore, a snake with tits, an intrinsically immoral body unable to behave any different to a cat on heat.

Bet his ex didn't cheat, either. She ran from his coercion, control and abuse. And if on the slight chance she did meet somebody else, well, if you've been accused of it for years when you've done nothing, it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to run for the hills as soon as somebody isn't abusive towards them.

On the positive side, perhaps you know someone who can recommend a good lawyer experienced in cases of coercive control?

Iflyaway · 01/04/2022 11:34

Tell him he needs to come along to one of these lunches

Do NOT do this!

Apart from the Christmas party there really is no need to bring one's husband to a works meeting, even if it's over lunch.

It makes you look unprofessional, and it changes the dynamic of the group.

ManateeFair · 01/04/2022 11:38

Do not stay with a man whose opinion of you is so low that he thinks you can’t go for lunch with colleagues without shagging one of them.

They always blame their ex. They always cry like babies and want sympathy when you tell them their behaviour is hurting you. He’s not a decent bloke with depression. He’s an arsehole. He may well be an arsehole with depression, but he is an arsehole nonetheless and he will not stop being one if he gets well again.

Vapeyvapevape · 01/04/2022 11:38

He may well get over the lunch thing but there will always be something else . Trust me , I've been there, my ex had therapy too but never changed. All the abusive behaviour was because he loved me so much and was scared I'd leave .

AnnesBrokenSlate · 01/04/2022 11:45

You led with the wrong issue in your OP. The problem is that he didn't speak to you for a month because you had lunch with colleagues.

If someone has been cheated on then certain events will trigger them. That doesn't mean you avoid those events. It means he has to deal with his emotions around those events and stop punishing you for his ex's behaviour.

FinallyHere · 01/04/2022 11:50

It's really not about you. It's all about him.

Please don't put up with this nonsense.

Whatever the reason for the feelings that come up for him, he is choosing to act on these feelings and surprise, surprise wants to exercise control over your life because he couldn't do so to his ex.

There is no excuse for that, please don't waste your life with someone like this. You sound lovely and don't deserve to be manipulated in this way. No one does, the surest way to stop it is to separate.

ProudAlly · 01/04/2022 11:58

I've been in this situation. I was threatened with:

You can't join a gym because there will be men there
You have to report back ho many meetings you're in where there are also men, every day
Not being allowed to wear matching underwear as they're "for someone else"
Finally: if you go on that work trip I won't be here when you get back

And then "I don't think I've ever loved you".

I don't care whether he had issues / childhood trauma / anything else for that matter. I got a DIY divorce kit from Staples and divorced him. Twat.

Fairislefandango · 01/04/2022 12:24

He cannot be fixed. Get that out of your head. Best case is he masks it for a bit to stop you divorcing him. This is an extremely abusive man who is making your life miserable.

^This. Some people unfortunately do have trouble with irrationally jealous feelings
However, any decent human being with any brain at all would recognise that their feelings were irrational, and were their own issue.

Whereas your husband punishes you for his problems by stonewalling you and trying to restrict your perfectly reasonable social life, when he knows full well there is zero reason for him to believe you have done anything wrong.

LTB.

Fruitygal · 01/04/2022 12:35

I’m confused 🤔 if you are married you’ve been together for over a year and this has never come up while you were dating or married prior to this occasion now ? You’ve never been fir drinks with old friends where there were men in the group ?

Surely someone so emotionally desperate this would have flagged up during the relationship before you married

BlingLoving · 01/04/2022 12:39

@Fruitygal

I’m confused 🤔 if you are married you’ve been together for over a year and this has never come up while you were dating or married prior to this occasion now ? You’ve never been fir drinks with old friends where there were men in the group ?

Surely someone so emotionally desperate this would have flagged up during the relationship before you married

This is not helpful. OP herself has said that her DH has convinced all HER family and friends that he's just a bit insecure and it's up to her to help him. He's probably escalating to see at what point she will stop accepting the behaviour.
GatoradeMeBitch · 01/04/2022 12:42

He needs expert counselling. And that's hit and miss. He needs to focus in on his poor behaviour, unravel it, understand it, and heal himself. But some therapists will encourage patients to identify targets to blame and then just vent about them for 45 minutes once a week. So it can actually make everything worse, not better.

If he doesn't deal with this properly you are going to have to spend countless hours assuring him that you're not in love with your client, that you do need to go on a work trip, that you aren't going food shopping just to flirt with the security guard (that one happened to me, and he got so bad eventually that he'd throw a fit if I went to visit my brother). I think you should lay down your boundaries, and then if he crosses them, leave. Life's too short.

(Don't leave contraception up to him because many men like this eventually get the bright idea that pregnancy and children will keep her at home more.)

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