Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Other subjects

I don't think I have any RL friends anymore.

24 replies

unicorn · 03/09/2006 22:23

Having a fairly rocky patch on the marital front, and I just wondered who I could call and chat to. Went through my address book, and couldn't see anyone who would be bothered enough to 1)pick up phone, or text back or 2)call me back
I think people in RL don't want to be 'troubled'by other peoples troubles.

How sad is that?

OP posts:
unicorn · 03/09/2006 22:33

or Virtual ones either!

OP posts:
Astrophe · 03/09/2006 22:36

aw unicorn, are you sure its not just you putting yourself down? We always thing worse of ourselves than others do i think. maybe your friends would love to hear your troubles and help you out?

moondog · 03/09/2006 22:39

Ah Unicorn!
Sure that's not true!
Are you quite a private person by nature?

I wouldn't say I am lacking on the friends front exactly but certain things are too personal to share.
I keep those for my sisters.

QueenEagle · 03/09/2006 22:42

unicorn, I know how you feel. I am really friendly, easy to get on with but I just wouldn't burden anyone with my troubles in RL. Except my dad but he has always been a complete rock for me.

I know lots of people, have lots of acquaintances. But no really deepa nd menaingful friends - but as sad as that sounds I don't mind it nor feel I desperately need them.

Do you need to talk?

unicorn · 03/09/2006 22:44

I just don't know who wants to know about my marital woes really... it seems to 'infect' people - everyone has there own problems - which they want to keep behind closed doors. To spill the beans about things also is asking too much ie for them to be partisan.

I don't feel I have anyone who will listen sympathetically - without judgement etc.

OP posts:
lou33 · 03/09/2006 22:47

i think that's more a sign of how low you are feeling , rather than the calibre of your friends

i got to the stage where i just couldnt speak to anyone, thought noone would care etc

they do if you give them a chance

unicorn · 03/09/2006 22:50

well let's put it this way. I have called and texted 4 people this evening - no one has returned call. I know people think 'I'm not in the mood for this' and fair enough, but it isn't as if I do it all the time!

Yes of course they could be out etc... but, but but I just feel they aren't in the mood to deal with a 'therapy session'.

OP posts:
QueenEagle · 03/09/2006 22:51

Yes, agree with lou. Going through a rocky patch really knocks you and your confidence takes a battering. Your friends may be more willing to help than you think.,

Can we help here?

charliecat · 03/09/2006 22:52

MNs the best therapy. Change your name if needbe and type it all out. It also means that in 3 months time when the problems have evaporated noone in RL will remember and you can leave it in the past
FWIW I know how you feel.

unicorn · 03/09/2006 22:55

thanks QE!
I guess you can let me vent - although it won't really be private as no doubt he will check up.

We have been very stressed since having kids really - no support , challenging kids etc etc. Instead of helping each other we have turned on each other, and it is just miserable.
I want a happier existance.
I don't want things to continue, in this cycle of despair - but the answer isn't as simple as 'leave him' really. It is a jigsaw of which he is a part.
(see why no one wants to pick up phone now!!!)

OP posts:
QueenEagle · 03/09/2006 23:07

Oh unicorn, you both sound reallly stressed and bogged down in the daily humdrum grind of that messy thing called life.

Do you have any hobbies that you could indulge yourself in once or twice w eek so you have some "me-time"? Somewhere with a creche so the kids are looked after?

wrt to your dh, you need to spend some time with him to re-discover yourselves as a couple. Book a babysitter and make sure you go out together at least once a fortnight.

How easy is it for you to talk to your dh about how you feel?

unicorn · 03/09/2006 23:11

we don't talk - we argue.
He is fed up, I am too, yes we are totally bogged down and have completely forgotten what we like about each other.
All our stresses are projected on the other person, and neither of us are in anyway supportive of the other.
It's gone too far to deal with with a few nights out without kids iykwim.
(we tried relationship counselling after dd1 - 7 years ago, it didn't really help)

OP posts:
QueenEagle · 03/09/2006 23:19

Ah I see. So is it time to sit down and be brtally honest with each other aND decide whether you actually want to try to make things work?

That's the bottom line isn't it? How do you feel about being on your own? How does HE feel? Are you both being honest about what you want? Why are you dissatisfied with each other? Can you see a future without him?

Sorry loads of questions - just thinking thru really.

QueenEagle · 03/09/2006 23:21

I gotta get to bed - early start tomorrow. But will check in tomorrow night if I get chance and see if you're ok.

MN might be a good place to seek advice you know.

unicorn · 03/09/2006 23:24

well my dream scenario is that we all change and manage to fit in with eaxh other as a happy family unit.

reality is, there doesn't seem to be a way of resolving our problems.
I don't want the kids to live through more of this... it is not the way (textbook) to bring up children - they see the arguements, they don't see any making up.

OP posts:
unicorn · 03/09/2006 23:28

he has just come home totaly p*ssed.

OP posts:
robinpud · 03/09/2006 23:28

Unicorn- so sorry for you. Marriage is damned hard work for a lot of us I think.
I have a good friend who is going through similar to you and yet she is pushing everyone away . It feels so wrong to just talk to her about inane trivial things like we always did, and yet I know she needs this as much as she needs deep and meaningful stuff.
Don't give up on the rl friends, tell them honestly that you neeed a strong shoulder and I am sure that you will find a friend there. In the meantime, mn is always here and you will get all sorts of feedback , support and suggestions. Good luck.

unicorn · 03/09/2006 23:52

cheers all.
I think 'intense' personal issues are really no go areas with many people - as they know both sides. I can understand that.
I am just sad that I have got to a point in life that I don't feel I can call upon family (nutters and dysfunctional) or 'friends' (er - have too many of their own problems and can't be a*sed) for support.

OP posts:
unicorn · 04/09/2006 00:35

most disappointed with the 'pal' who is going through messy divorce at moment. I left messages at appointed time to call - has she called back? nope.

why not just say - 'sorry can't handle your problems at the minute, I have too many of my own?'

OP posts:
Heathcliffscathy · 04/09/2006 00:40

unicorn. i'm sure that they just haven't had the texts (mobiles not on sunday night at home).

really sorry about your troubles.

come to wales.

at least you have some mn friends left.

themoon66 · 04/09/2006 00:44

Its late... perhaps that's why nobody has called you back.

Why dont you type it all out and post on here for tomorrow.. bet you get loads of people with fab advice straight from their hearts.

Things always look worse late at night. Try to sleep now and come on here tomorrow if you can. Things may look better tomorrow. I know its a cliche.. but often true. Take care till tomorrow Uni.

wannaBe1974 · 04/09/2006 07:38

Unicorn

So sorry you are feeling like this. I think that it's so easy to read things into responses when you are down like this, if you feel you need someone and reach out to someone and they're not there, then the rejection just feels like it's increasing from all sides doesn't it. but so often people don't respond in a way we would like not necessarily because they can't be bothered, but often they just don't have the words to comfort in a way you need. Sometimes people just don't know how to deal with friends asking for emotional support, and for some it's easier to say nothing than it is to admit to their own inadequacies. And I know from personal experience that it can feel horrible when you call on people and they don't respond, and this is especially worse late at night - I don't know why, but I know that if ever I've been really down, it's seemed like the end of the world when I've been up late, and the next morning I've woken up thinking what the hell was that all about.

With regard to your dh, you both sound so incredibly unhappy to me. You both need to sit down and talk in an environment where it's not likely to end up in an argument, and decide what you want for the future. Can you get a babysitter and go out for a meal? there you can sit and at least start to talk without possibly ending up in an argument, it's often good to go out somewhere public as the potential for arguments is less when you know there are others watching. You need to decide how you both still feel, do you love him? does he still love you? if so do you want to work things out? if the answer to these questions is yes, then you need to rebuild the communication that seems to have become lost between you. A few nights out is not the whole answer, but it is a starting point. Find someone to look after the kids for a weekend, then go away somewhere, see a show, go for a lovely meal, walk along the street and talk about everything and nothing, don't mention home or the kids, just talk about the scenery, the people you're watching walking by, and when you are talking comfortably about everything else, move the conversation towards your own relationship. It will be a slow, slow process, but if you are both committed, then you can work things out. And then you also need to reclaim your own identity. Find something you can do on your own a couple of times a week, go shopping, join a jim, take up a hobby, something that involves just you and not the kids. If you are happier in yourself, then everything will look so much brighter for your future.

DS just got up now so have to go, but will check in again later

good luck x

unicorn · 04/09/2006 09:33

cheers all.
Morning hasn't made the situation any better.
He is sleeping off his hangover.
Wannabe74 everything you say makes sense.
We haven't had any support over the years, and he has never wanted to pay for babysitter so whenever we have needed one it has been a friend/reciprocal agreement (and we always feel we have to get back asap as they have own kids etc)
We are at rock bottom at the moment, I don't think we like each other let alone love each other.

OP posts:
QueenEagle · 04/09/2006 22:27

unicorn, wannabe has said everything I wanted to in a far more eloquent way than I ever could. Key question for the both of you is do you want to attempt to make things work? If the answer is yes to that then you need to seek help with the how.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page