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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

Support thread for those in Emotionally Abusive relationships Number *9*

999 replies

foolonthehill · 06/06/2012 15:53

Am I being abused?

Verbal Abuse A wonderfully non-hysterical summary. If you're unsure, read the whole page and see if you're on it.
Emotional abuse from the same site as above
Emotional abuse a more heartfelt description
Signs of Abuse & Control Useful check list
why financial abuse is domestic violenceAre you a free ride for a cocklodger, or supposed to act grateful for every penny you get for running the home?
Women's Aid: "What is Domestic Violence?" This is also, broadly, the Police definition.
20 signs you're with a controlling and/or abusive partner Exactly what it says on the tin

Books :

"Why Does He Do That?" by Lundy Bancroft - The eye-opener. Read this if you read nothing else.
"The Verbally Abusive Relationship" by Patricia Evans ? He wants power OVER you and gets angry when you prove not to be the dream woman who lives only in his head.
"The Verbally Abusive Man, Can He Change?" by Patricia Evans - Answer: Perhaps - ONLY IF he recognises HIS issues, and if you can be arsed to work through it. She gives explicit guidelines.
"Men who hate women and the women who love them" by Susan Forward. The author is a psychotherapist who realised her own marriage was abusive, so she's invested in helping you understand yourself just as much as helping you understand your abusive partner.
"The Emotionally Abusive Relationship: How to Stop Being Abused and How to Stop Abusing" by Beverley Engels - The principle is sound, if your partner isn't basically an arse, or disordered.
"Codependent No More : How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself" by Melody Beattie - If you a rescuer, you're a co-dependent. It's a form of addiction! This book will help you.
But whatever you do, don't blame yourself for being Co-dependent!

Websites :

So, you're in love with a narcissist - Snarky, witty, angry, but also highly intelligent: very good for catharsis
Dr Irene's verbal abuse site - motherly advice to readers' write-ins from a caring psychotherapist; can be a pain to navigate but very validating stuff
Out of the fog - and now for the science bit! Clinical, dispassionate, and very informative website on the various forms of personality disorders and how they impact on family and intimate relationships.
Get your angries out ? You may not realise it yet, but you ARE angry. Find out in what unhealthy ways your anger is expressing itself. It has probably led you to staying in an unhealthy relationship.
Melanie Tonia Evans is a woman who turned her recovery from abuse into a business. A little bit "woo" and product placement-tastic, but does contain a lot of useful articles.
Love fraud - another site by one woman burned by an abusive marriage
You are not crazy - one woman's experience. She actually has recordings of her and her abusive partner having an argument, so you can hear what verbal abuse sounds like. A pain to navigate, but well worth it.
Baggage reclaim - Part advice column, part blog on the many forms of shitty relationships.
heart to heart a wealth of information and personal experiences drawn together in one place

If you find that he really wants to change
I stay or should I go bonus materials this is a site containing the material for men who want to change?please don?t give him the link?print out the content for him to work through.

The Bill of Rights
bill of rights here is what you should expect as a starting point for your treatment in a relationship, as you will of course be treating others!!

OP posts:
NiniLegsInTheAir · 28/06/2012 23:23

Well, everything is all about him naturally - a good little wife would immediately drop all her studying books to hear his ramblings on what he thought of the beer. Wink At least that's what I think it means. He's gone to bed now.

DoingItForMyself · 28/06/2012 23:26

Whereas a good husband would actually shut the fuck up about the beer and ask how your studying was going!

NiniLegsInTheAir · 28/06/2012 23:29

Indeed! But he doesn't ask me that as he doesn't care.

Sheesh, and this is him in his NICE phase. Says it all really! Hmm

screwtop · 28/06/2012 23:40

I can relate to that Nini. he always needs my attention NOW, like a toddler (sadly i can find many ways he is similar to dc) but i dont want to be his mother too :(

TodaysAGoodDay · 29/06/2012 18:18

That thread was far too sad to read. I only got to the third post Sad. I personally think they're made-up men who don't exist.

TodaysAGoodDay · 29/06/2012 18:29

Oops... hornets nest...stirring. I've added my own 10 things I love about my X to the end of that thread. I think I may get flamed for destroying a thread!

Kernowgal · 29/06/2012 19:00

ExOH arranged to pick up his stuff a fortnight ago, I told him which days were good for me but to tell me whether he was coming or not (so I could make alternative plans if I wanted). He didn't turn up on either day, nor did he let me know he wasn't coming Hmm. Later in the week I get texts saying he'll pay for me to go to a gig and inviting me to his new place for dinner. I decline both. He says he'll come next (this) week to pick up his stuff. Again he fails to turn up and doesn't let me know. Finally today I get ANOTHER text asking when is good to come and pick up his stuff, except this time it's combined with a load of passive aggressive martyrish crap about how he'll do it all on his own, won't bother me, we won't have to see each other (it's all in an outside room). So, being me, I say no I'll give you a hand. He refuses, more martyrish comments. So I say fair enough, do it yourself.

I live down a very narrow lane and he has a big LWB transit van with a roofrack. Last time he reversed down it as it's too narrow to drive round at one end and nearly took out part of a neighbour's wall with the roof rack. We had such a horrific evening moving our stuff in, he was really nasty to me (this was our first night in the new place), dropped the sofa we were moving so I hurt my back and then almost shut my hand in the van door (he says he didn't know I was there) before telling me we weren't on the same wavelength - NO SHIT SHERLOCK!

So do you know what? Fuck him and all his stuff, I am going to leave the key underneath a flowerpot and fuck off to the pub for the evening. I've done more than enough for that grasping wanker. I hope he slips a disc and drops his computer on his foot.

DoingItForMyself · 29/06/2012 19:22

Grin Today. I did think it wasn't really in the spirit of it but sod it why should they get all the lovely blokes and the happy ever afters, they need a reality check!

DoingItForMyself · 29/06/2012 19:26

Great stuff Kernow! That's the spirit, he's not your problem anymore and you know that if you did stick around to help him he'd either not turn up again, use it as an opportunity to try and make you feel guilty or be a complete arse and blame you when crashes his van. You're well out of it, all! Congratulate yourself on a lucky escape Wine

Kernowgal · 29/06/2012 19:46

Aye Doing clinks glasses

Excuse my language but I am reminded of one of those e-cards doing the rounds on FB at the moment:

"You there. Fuck off. And when you get there, fuck off from there too. Then fuck off some more. Keep fucking off until you get back here. Then fuck off again."

I might print it out and stick it on the door.

NiniLegsInTheAir · 29/06/2012 20:35

Kernow you should have left all his stuff outside! Grin But enjoy your trip to the pub!

NSDH decided he didn't want to go out with his dad after all but turned up normal time. I was not impressed he hadn't bothered to tell me I was about to order pizza. So we're back to the same old, him watching TV downstairs, me studying upstairs. DD is struggling to settle tonight.

I hate weekends now. Same old shite, trying to keep DD stimulated, happy and fed, trying to do things round the house while he does whatever he wants to do (usually very little). I'm always so stressed by the time sunday evening comes. And this week will be worse, he's got monday off. Give me strength Sad

Kernowgal · 29/06/2012 23:36

I should have done Nini - it would be a soggy mess by now Grin

Weekends were always tough for me too - will you at least get some peace when the footy's on on Sunday? Though I can't recall if it was your NSDH who was a total arsehole after one of the games so apologies if it was and the footy adds to your feeling of dread.

Hugs to you and a Wine if that's what you need! x

ineedahaircut · 30/06/2012 10:34

Hello, i've been lurking on here for a while now so here goes:

"D"p was an utter shit to me a few months back. Said some unfounded, vile things on a few occasions that left me feeling like a shit person. He was very stressed then with a new job and commute; he'd never been like this before in 6 years, he's normally very gentle, so I was shocked. His situation then did not excuse him but we discussed what he needed to do to change and he has never done it again. People make mistakes.

but

He's never apologised. He has never said he didn't mean it.

And I've let this simmer away in my mind for months; I've become more distant from him and he's not given to displays of affection or declarations of undying love etc anyway which doesn't help. He seems to think everything's ok. It's not.

HOw do I deal with this? I can't keep ignoring it.

ta :(

TodaysAGoodDay · 30/06/2012 11:13

Hi haircut and welcome,
I don't know what to suggest I'm afraid. All I can say is people do make mistakes, and maybe he thinks it's been dealt with and it's now in the past. If you think that bringing it up again will be unpleasant and possibly risky for you, then I'd say don't. Forgive him in your heart and move on. If he treats you like it again, then yes, bring it up, but personally I think it's like sticking your finger in a hornet's nest and giving it a stir around. I wouldn't.

ineedahaircut · 30/06/2012 12:13

Ta today

I don't know either and as you say people make mistakes. The problem is really with me and the effect his words have had on my already low self-esteem.

He does think it's been dealt with. I don't want to stir things up yet I feel like a wreck; I lost a lot of confidence (this has affected my work, which means a lot to me) and I believe he has no idea of the effect his EA has had on me. I think I need him to acknowledge that or to tell me he didn't mean it to help me get better, but I don't want to punish him. I'm afraid he'll regard it as me punishing him though. Argh!

TodaysAGoodDay · 30/06/2012 12:15

What if he acknowledges it but says he meant it at the time? Could you deal with that? Are you sure you want to know the answer?

ineedahaircut · 30/06/2012 12:34

He did mean it at the time :( Something we discussed after was that he was blaming / taking frustrations out on me rather than taking responsibility for bad decisions he had made. But my question is if he still means it...I can't be with someone who has such a negative view of me as a person.

Today thank you so much for responding. I haven't got anyone I can talk about this to in RL.

TodaysAGoodDay · 30/06/2012 12:38

Chat away, that's what this thread is for. Maybe he had a negative view then, but has a positive view now? Some people just need to rant at others, but they don't mean it afterwards my fecking SIL is like that

ineedahaircut · 30/06/2012 12:45

Yes maybe his view has changed. Maybe not. The problem is how to find out without him getting angry because he thinks I'm dragging up a "mistake" to get at him. This is likely. He's a lovely man as long as he is allowed to think he's right all the time.

TodaysAGoodDay · 30/06/2012 12:49

Not sure how I'd ask him. I wouldn't have tried this with my X because of the consequences. Not sure your 'D'P should be right all the time though Hmm

Kernowgal · 30/06/2012 15:05

My ex told me to my face that he took out his resentment on me. Not once did he ever apologise for the way he behaved towards me, and he would also accuse me of 'dragging things up again' because if I tried to tackle his appalling behaviour at the time it would just make things worse, so I would leave it until things had calmed down. I soon learned that he would never acknowledge his part in anything and so I stopped trying, and gradually switched off from him. It's impossible to love someone like that.

DoingItForMyself · 30/06/2012 15:25

Haircut, I was only able to 'forgive' my stbxh and stop snapping and sniping at him after I'd managed to coax crowbar an apology out of him. Without that, without some inkling that he realised the effect his words over the years have had on me, I couldn't even look him in the eye.

For just a split second I saw his remorse and he accepted that he was flawed and that was enough to calm the rage I felt at him.

Since then he's gone back into "la la la everything's fine, we're just good friends who don't live together any more" mode and its INFURIATING, but now that I have seen the chink in his armour and I know that he does understand I can cope with it.

I needed him to validate how I felt and unless you can get your H to acknowledge what he said (whether or not he says that he actually meant it) and apologise for saying it you will not be able to move on.

If I were you I'd be sticking my finger in that hornets nest, because without some 'closure' (I know, dreadful word) you'll never be able to move on, either with him or without him.

foolonthehill · 30/06/2012 15:30

haircut may be the thing would be to look at building yourself up so that you believe ion yourself more first. Then you could have a look at your relationship again.

you could try counselling or taking up something again (or new) get out and meet people in your own right and...keep talking here and/or elsewhere.

OP posts:
veeeee · 30/06/2012 17:49

I have now been called a selfish lover. This is because I said "I'm going to morrisons, do you want anything" to which he replied "yes a blow job". Aibu for not dropping to my knees?

I will catchup with everyone else just felt I needed to get that off my chest because it's proper pissed me off!

DoingItForMyself · 30/06/2012 18:21

Shock Shock Shock Shock Shock

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