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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 for those in Emotionally Abusive Relationships: 13

999 replies

CharlotteCollinsislost · 08/11/2012 09:10

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
a check list Use this site for some concise diagnostic lists and support
Signs of Abuse & Control Useful check list
why financial abuse is domestic violence Are 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.
www.heart-2-heart.ca/women/page1.htm heart to heart]] a wealth of information and personal experiences drawn together in one place

what couples therapy does for abusers

If you find that he really wants to change
should 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:
hildebrandisgettinghappier · 13/11/2012 13:53

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foolonthehill · 13/11/2012 13:57

Better than suffering for keeping things wrong for them Hilde! Which is where we were before

hildebrandisgettinghappier · 13/11/2012 14:27

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NiniLegsInTheAir · 13/11/2012 14:55

Had to lol a little bit at tryings analogy that these men are like werewolves. Right now I feel like I'm trapped in the woods with this werewolf after me, struggling to see the woods for the trees.

lovemenot · 13/11/2012 15:32

......that awkward moment when you phone Women's Aid and their "on-hold" music is the same music that you walked up the aisle to on your wedding day!!!

Bertiebassett · 13/11/2012 18:51

fool yes of course if FW becomes unreasonable in mediation it won't do him any favours. I'm sure the mediator will see right through him too!

She is fab...and I think a mindreader... this morning she forwarded an email to myself and FW outlining the exact days and conditions that we'd agreed to last Friday. FW had suggested that it wasn't really a fixed agreement...and therefore I was being difficult refusing to change...the email from her proved him completely wrong. Her timing is impeccable Grin

Bertiebassett · 13/11/2012 18:52

hilde you're doing so well...I am full of admiration x

hildebrandisgettinghappier · 13/11/2012 19:21

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MrsOscarPistorius · 13/11/2012 19:40

((Hilde)) big hugs. The anger needs to come out. Having confirmation from all those RL people must have shifted your whole world on its axis. Maybe you didn't really feel justified until now?

Bertie the mediator may be a mind reader but I bet there's an FW mediation script he's following too.

Hope alls well with everyone else. I'm in a strange place right now. H is being more considerate, empathic etc than I can remember for a long time. Could be the nice part of the nice/nasty cycle? Or genuine change? I know many say that abusers can't change on their own, but I still don't know in my heart that's what he is. I'll be watching and waiting, carrying on with the counselling in the meantime.

MatchsticksForMyEyes · 13/11/2012 20:43

Hilde, everyone in RL has been shocked by things I've finally been able to say have happened. I too have gone from feeling guilty about ex's future now to thinking why the hell SHOULDN'T I get the life I deserve for me and the dc?! I will get what I dese, even though my solicitor says if it went to a second court hearing the cost would be around 10k.
Stay angry. I find it is helping spur me on.

MatchsticksForMyEyes · 13/11/2012 20:44

*deserve

Bertiebassett · 13/11/2012 21:46

Let it out here hilde xxx

CharlotteCollinsislost · 13/11/2012 23:22

hilde - hope the night gives you strength for another day. xx

MrsOP - fwiw, I don't think it's possible for them to change without realising they've done something wrong - and with that would come remorse. Think you're quite right to stay detached and keep watching. He's probably just convincing himself what a great guy he is before the next round of nastiness...

OP posts:
tryingsoonflying · 13/11/2012 23:36

Hilde if it's ok me saying this, from a less learned position than you, as you are further along the road than me, but it seems like your anger is really right IYSWIM? When I think back (if I am remembering correctly) to your old posts, pre-escape and you had that horrible experience going on holiday with the school boy asking if you were ok, then fast forwarding to now when you are so awe inspiringly strong - well, I feel overwhelmed with admiration for what you've done and the change in your confidence. That is such a huge gift to your dcs, apart from saving your own sanity, because you are important too! Sorry, bit of a ramble, hope it makes some sense (prob not Wink)

Love my heart twisted in sympathy when you mentioned this thread helping you retain your dignity... I have felt the same so many times and I feel SO much stronger from my months on here. Your FW really has ground your self esteem down, but we are here to help you build it up because you have every right to be a happy person who pursues her wishes, desires and dreams. xxx Oh and your mention of the WA "on hold" muzak - blimey how horribly grim but almost darkly funny (in a deeply sympathetic manner of course!).

Nini what do you reckon, is garlic effective against werewolves Wink. I guess a stake through the heart is out of the question Wink Grin Ho ho.

hildebrandisgettinghappier · 14/11/2012 00:48

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tryingsoonflying · 14/11/2012 01:00

Bless you Hilde, sympathy and hugs. This is very sad for your ds, but it's not what he feels ALL the time, just what he felt at that moment. He is letting off steam and showing his feelings which could actually be a good and positive thing, as becoming withdrawn and keeping his worries in would be perhaps more worrying? Things aren't worse for him because you left a deeply unhealthy and abusive relationship; you have removed him from an abusive situation and now nature is running its course and he is having a reaction - better now than when he's an adult and his feelings can't find an outlet. I am not sure I'm in any way qualified to advise as I am feeling very unsure of myself but that's how it seems to me. Hugs and sympathy and Brew

kittybiscuits · 14/11/2012 01:05

Lovely hilde, I feel for you. You have all been groomed and trained to take care of your x's needs for years, and now you are unlearning. It must be so hard to see your son deal with this. But he will learn too, it will just take time. And you are providing him with the best possible example of how to detach from the manipulation. Not without caring, but because you matter too. And so does your boy. Sleep well x

hildebrandisgettinghappier · 14/11/2012 06:14

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arthriticfingers · 14/11/2012 07:22

Hilde I would not send any emails to your FW about his behaviour.
They will not change it and anything you say to FW can and will be used against you.
A MNetter a while back told the story of sending an email about distressed children to her FWEX only to get an email back saying that the children's distress was proof that she was a bad mother.
Listen to the children let them know they can show their emotions. Keep a record of what they say, but don't get involved in any debate about who said what with FW.
I am sure I always sound brusque, but I just wish all FWs would disappear from the face of the earth!

foolonthehill · 14/11/2012 07:30

Hi Hide, I second not sending anything direct to him re his interaction with the DC. he will just use it as evidence of you controlling him/them and if he can't see that it's wrong anyway your email won't make him see.

Hold out fro change direct from him, detach, detach, detach. Protect those DC (especially DD2) who are so vulnerable. trust that with your normal sane and loving parenting they will eventually see him for who he is. talk indirectly about good/bad behaviour with them.

Watch for that line and trust yourself if you feel he has crossed it. No-one else can really protect them, only you and the more you detach from him the more clearly you will see what needs to be done and when.

PS Arth...also wishing FWs would be carted of to another universe...alien abduction anyone........?

foolonthehill · 14/11/2012 07:38

And actually the panic...i need to paint for my daddy is a wonderful window into your son's emotions. They are NOT worse because they are coming out, they are coming out because he is safe.

Actually the person you need to talk to is your son:
Daddy's feelings are Daddys, he is not responsible for them
we should be kind and considerate to anyone, but we are not to in charge of how someone else feels
If we do bad things then we have to sort them out, no-one else can do that for us
Grown ups need to look after children, not the other way round
You are allowed to Love Daddy completely,
etc, etc.

Just be aware also that like me you have said to the DC that FW could come home if he changes.......this means they cannot completely dismiss his return, this means they have to stay prepared and engaged with his FWness. Consider 9as I am) whether actually removing the possibility of his return might be kinder to them as they would not have to keep this door open and on high alert. you might at least put a longer term time scale on it to relieve their pressure.

hildebrandisgettinghappier · 14/11/2012 07:59

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jan2013 · 14/11/2012 08:28

hilde i totally understand why youve done that, i hope your ok. i really feel for you - my dh is separated from me and still doesn't get it and i have sent so many emails, had so many talks, and yet i still feel the need to spell it all out for him and STILL he acts like he doesn't have a clue and that we will get back together if nothing happens except a bit of time. its so hard ((((hilde)))) hopefully his family will understand a bit more now

hildebrandisgettinghappier · 14/11/2012 09:38

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MaggieMay05 · 14/11/2012 10:24

Hi everyone, just a quicky. Am home now after break at Dmums. Will write properly later but wanted to send ((hugs)) to you Hilde stay strong. In other news DD has given us all NITS!! Has been a very eventful 24hours since arriving home. FW of course being a FW about it all refusing to go near DD,DS and me incase he gets 'infested' We had treatment on overnight and I had a right old go with the nit comb then this morning on DD. Need to nit comb me and DS now but easier said than done with wriggly DS toddler and then me trying to do my very thick hair whilst also entertaining DS. Going to be a long day. Write properly later ladies. Stay strong everyone x