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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

coping with the anger of infidelity

36 replies

cakesaway · 12/03/2011 20:34

I posted a thread before xmas on how I was struggling to cope with my husbands infidelity in relation to xmas and all that it entails. Mumsnetters were fantastic in their support and advice and it helped a great deal.Three months on and I still have so much anger I don't know what to do with myself. The problem being that the woman in question turns up to my husbands work events knowing that I will be there and effectively rubbing my nose in it. It is a public space and she cannot be banned.
After the last incident I emailed her to ask her to respect the situation and the relationship. She has blatently ignored this and continues to make her presence felt. I am angry, vengeful and also afraid (she is a bit of a bunny boiler)! What can I do with my anger ??? Should I take further action ?

OP posts:
macdoodle · 15/05/2011 19:38

I can 100% guarantee he is still stringing the OW along, absolutely.
My Xh did exactly the same.
Just let the fucker get on with it, kick him out, and move on with your life.
Harsh I know, but I have been were you are, and I "looked after XH" for a year, till i finally wised up.
Good luck!

letitlie · 15/05/2011 19:39

very sorry to hear what you are going through. I think you have to stand back to take care of yourself and your DCs. I too am a single mum of 3 DCs following marriage breakdown from infidelity and your story resonates with me from the point of not really making the effort to win you back or prove he is worthy of you. If he really is ill, maybe some time apart for him to recuperate can give you breathing space to get back on track.

We can't ascertain whether the OW is involved now, but you need the space to look after your own health which is vital for the DCs

Take care

HerHissyness · 15/05/2011 20:29

I am Hmm tbh at the idea of his breakdown, isn't this what solost's H did?

Convenient isn't it, gets all the sympathy away from the wife and onto the poor ickle hubby.

His depression is pure and simple GUILT. Take him to the B&B and leave him there. If he needs a Dr, he can sort it, or the B&B can call them, or even the OW. Why should anyone have any sympathy for him, he's never shown any!

apprenticemum · 15/05/2011 20:36

I know this may seem hard but DH is in a hole of his own making. For goodness sake don't let him drag you into it. Never lose sight of the fact that you are the innocent party here and whatever he is suffering would never have happened if he had kept it in his pants. Even if this business blows over, will you ever trust or respect him again? Will he ever meet your expectations? Will you ever feel relaxed and happy in his company?
My ex husband was a violent man. After he lashed out he was devastated, would beg forgivness, promise it would never happen again and guess what...
he did it again! I later found a good man who has been kind and loving for the past 24 years. Thank goodness I saw the writing on the wall and walked away before I was destroyed physically and mentally.

AnyFucker · 15/05/2011 21:15

if my H had ever had a "breakdown" as the result of his own infidelity, he would receive no helping hand from me

I would be handing him the telephone number of The Samaritans and then fucking off back to my own life, seriously

WhenwillIfeelnormal · 15/05/2011 22:04

I think you probably desperately want to think that your H is not of sound mind and that this has been the reason for his behaviour during and after the affair, but while I think some unfaithful people have emotional breakdowns after an affair is discovered, even then it is a breakdown associated more with how their lives have been wrecked by their own behaviour - and not deep sorrow and regret for the pain they have caused everyone else. It can be a very self-indulgent way of getting sympathy from those who have been hurt - and at worst, a way of deflecting responsibility for the carnage enacted by their own hands.

You will actually do more harm than good by being the sympathetic nurse-maid here, because if your H is genuinely suffering from a mental health crisis, he needs care from professionals and his own family and friends. Your children will be affected the more time they spend with him and you should shield them from that. They realise far more than you are perhaps reckoning with and the hugs they are giving you all the time are probably their confused way of seeking reassurance from you, because they sense things are not right within their family.

It doesn't mean you have to be unsympathetic, but you should stand back now and put your energies into creating a peaceful home for you and your DCs while your H stays away and fights his own demons.

If you look at your reactions since the affair was discovered, you have had a tendency to focus on anything but your H's culpability for what happened; the apparently volatile OW, the disapproving employers if the affair had been discovered and now, your H's mental health. I'm sure you've only done that because your H has evaded responsibility every step of the way and unfortunately you've accepted that holding pattern.

It is now high time that you stopped letting him evade the responsibility for his behaviour and got tough.

apprenticemum · 15/05/2011 23:04

Here-here I second that, whenwillifeelnormal or was that basically what I said earlier. Anyway.....get him the hell out of there cakes!

cakesaway · 16/05/2011 11:55

wow what reactions and some really good advice. I can see how I have been ignoring my own needs and concentrating on his. I perhaps do see him as a victim rather then myself. I will step away slowly but it's so incredibly hard when you love someone so much. I am almost 100% sure the OW is not involved - in fact he never slept with her or so he says. He has been reffered to a psychologist but not given antidepressents which is what he really needs. He is in a very dark place of his own making and perhaps I should let him go but ,again, as the man I love and the father of my children I am worried for him.
He does accept responsibility for what happened but can't seem to rebuild our relationship. I can 'get tough' to a certain extent but it is a fragile situation and I do want my kids to have their Dad at the end of the day. It is like taking small steps towards someone on the edge of a cliff and I know what you'll all say - that im thinking of him again not me - true but I can't let go just yet.

OP posts:
apprenticemum · 16/05/2011 12:13

I know how hard it is and you are doing well. It is almost impossible to change the habbits of a lifetime. It is accepted that women are programmed to think of themselves last when in fact they are the backbone in a family and need to change the attitude of selflessness in order to remain strong. Keep the faith.

WhenwillIfeelnormal · 16/05/2011 12:22

cakes you can love him and still want him to be a good father to your children and yet step away from your romantic relationship for a time. You need to protect yourself especially, because if their father has driven himself off the rails with self-destructive behaviour (these were all choices he made after all) then your children need someone who will not get sucked into the drama of it all and who will provide stability and normality throughout this crisis.

I am not diminishing the possibility that your H is suffering mental health issues, but in my view a psychologist is a much better treatment method than anti-depressants, because I suspect his poor mental health isn't rooted in a chemical imbalance and has been triggered more by his own destructive behaviour choices. A psychologist might get to the bottom of why he made those choices, in the way that pills never can.

Is he remaining in your home now then, having said before that he "needs space"? If so, please give more thought to the space that you and the children need.

countingto10 · 16/05/2011 13:45

Cakes, I have been in your situation. My DH self medicated his depression and breakdown with gambling and an affair with a very dubious woman (part of his self-loathing and self destruction).

You have to step away from him, as my MIL said to me "My son was going to take you and the DC down with him as well" Sad.

There were many reasons for my DH doing what he did, still unravelling in counselling now 2 years on, most things going back to childhood issues/dysfunctional family.

DH spent about 3 months with his parents before moving back into the family home. He spent about 3 nights a week and weekend days with me to help out with the 4DSs whilst getting "headspace" at his parents. It also served to give me space too.

Look into co-dependency as well, your need to take care of and fix things (like me Grin) suggests this might be happening with you as it does in many relationships.

Good luck and try and step back.

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