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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

Think I Have Lost The Plot. Please Help.

278 replies

TotalTizzy · 14/01/2013 21:01

I've been with my P for two years (don't feel like I can add the 'D' in front). He was great for the first year but the second year has been difficult. He will be lovely for weeks on end and then out of the blue he will blow up over something or do something seemingly out of character. He has always been a bit funny about me going out with my friends but now it feels suffocating. He has started doing things like giving me the silent treatment when I get in or putting the deadlock (I think that is what it's called) across the door so that I can't open it from the outside. On the occasions when he has locked me out, I have spent up to half an hour ringing him and knocking on the door but he doesn't respond. I know he is awake because sometimes he cuts the calls off or answers and pretends he can't hear me. One time I actually saw him standing in the shadows of our bedroom window watching me getting tearful and panicky but he totally denies he did this.

Once a week I have a physio appointment after work and he will go out that evening without fail and get absolutely blind drunk. He always justifies it by saying "You were out of house having a good time so why shouldn't I?" Since when the hell has seeing the physio been classed as FUN? The next day he will give me three different variations of what he had got up to while he was on the piss and he always tells me that someone has chatted him up (usually a glamour model FFS). His stories never make sense and if they do then it sounds like he has rehearsed a watertight itinerary and tells me to call one of his friends to verify it (which I don't). I always feel worried when he goes out now - I honestly never used to care but now I feel very anxious. When I speak to him about it he just accuses me of being a control freak and of wanting to keep him under the thumb. Sometimes I ask him not to go out and I become very needy which causes arguments. I hate myself for being like this and I know he resents that behaviour because he tells me often enough.

Sometimes I try to have a normal adult conversation with him about something and he will turn it round on me and start going off on one. For example one time he was moaning about being skint and I said he should stop spending so much money on booze (he thinks nothing of spending a hundred quid on a bottle of champagne in a bar even though he is up to his eyeballs in debt. He never buys that when he's with me btw, only when he is out with his flash friends) He suddenly went beserk and started interrogating me about men I fancy asking me the same questions over and over again until I snapped. He then went very quiet and calm then said "I've caught you out. You're getting angry because you're a fucking liar." Two days later he booked us a last minute 'romantic' trip to Rome as a way of apologising.

I really think I am losing my mind. I honestly dont know what is going on from one day to the next. Whenever I threaten to leave there are tantrums, tears, proclamations of undying love and expensive gifts but then a few days later when the dust has settled he will make it known that I am the one who causes all the problems. Everyone thinks he is such a nice bloke and I doubt they would believe me if I told them what was really going on. I just don't know what to do. Last time I tried to leave him he locked me in our house and took away my phone, keys and purse until I "calmed down and saw sense "as he put it. He also said he loved me too much for me to walk away. It's like a rollercoaster except the highs and lows are getting more and more extreme. I don't even know who I am anymore. I guess I am looking for reassurance that I should leave but im scared.

OP posts:
ScarletWomanoftheVillage · 19/01/2013 13:05

Also, " he idolises her" WTAF?

How horrid to be idolised. His mother thinks this a good thing.

It's not.

ScarletWomanoftheVillage · 19/01/2013 13:05

Is

Katisha · 19/01/2013 13:16

Hi - you sound really well organised and have everyone onside- really pleased about that.
You do need to let go any idea that you will get an apology though. He is living in a different version of reality and will be believing himself. He will have NO concept that he has behaved badly. Understand this you will be able to see things more clearly.

FairPhyllis · 19/01/2013 13:17

Hi OP. Just read through all of this and so glad you are out.

If your physio appointment is at a regular time and he knows where it is, see if it is possible to change it. Same goes for any other routine things. And be careful on your way to and from work.

GiveMeSomeSpace · 19/01/2013 13:46

Well done TT. We're all rooting for you.

Sounds like his dear mother needs to hear some home truths about just how badly he has treated you.

Keep strong :)

izzyizin · 19/01/2013 13:47

Everything garlic has said and this:

What amazes me is that there has been NO apology from him and NO recognition whatsoever that he has driven me away

This is because he cannot admit to anyone, let alone his dm, that his behaviour has driven you away but you can be sure he knows full well why you left.

If he 'fesses up, he'll have to start mending his ways and, as it takes effort and persistence to break bad habits, he has no intention of bringing about any change for good in his behaviour - and why should he when he's got access to a unimited source of unsupecting good hearted women such as yourself to terrorise convince himself he's all-powerful?

Let the police deal with him and don't hesitate to call them anytime 24/7 if you have reason to believe he's not seen the warning blue light and given up harassing you.

D'you know something, Tizzy? It really doesn't matter who the fuck he and his dm put the 'blame' on. What matter is you and the fact that you no longer have to live in fear of an abusive and controlling twunt who isn't fit to lick your boots.

I sincerely hope your dps told his dm that living with her ds caused you to become severely depressed - but you're not now Grin

TurnipCake · 19/01/2013 13:49

Well done OP, and so lovely to hear of you having supportive family, friends and colleagues.

Goodness knows what he has told his mother, the woman needs to wind her neck in and have a reality check.

Stay strong x

TotalTizzy · 19/01/2013 14:14

Thank you everyone, your support is amazing. You have helped me so much and I appreciate the advice re: his DM. She has always defended him. Whenever there were arguments between me and XP he would get her involved and she was always quick to jump in and tell me I had 'got the wrong end of the stick.' I found that very hard to deal with. There was one occasion when he and I were staying at his parents house and for no reason he just started on me late at night when everyone was in bed. It was the usual interrogation about my past and his obsession with the fact my first boyfriend was mixed race (apparently this made him feel 'sick' and it 'put him off me a bit') so the next morning, I went to leave with the intention of going for good - cue his DM getting involved and XP totally denying everything. They both made me feel like a total loon who was overreacting ; ditto the rest of his family. Hmm No wonder I stayed with him so long, they just made me feel like I was the one with the problem all the time and he was some sort of demi God who couldn't do a thing wrong.

Waffling again, sorry Confused

OP posts:
TotalTizzy · 19/01/2013 14:23

FairPhyllis Good thinking re: physio. I hadn't thought of that so will rearrange. Thanks. One of my colleagues has kindly suggested we lift share next week so that I'm not arriving and leaving work on my own, I'm lucky to work with such nice people Smile

OP posts:
GiveMeSomeSpace · 19/01/2013 14:25

"my first boyfriend was mixed race (apparently this made him feel 'sick' and it 'put him off me a bit"

hmmm... he sounds better and better with each snippet of info

Sugarice · 19/01/2013 14:42

Both him and his dm are loons, thank goodness you're out of that relationship!

I hope he doesn't give you any more grief, good idea about having a colleague with you regarding your workplace arrival and departure.

Fancy getting his mother involved, she sounds odd too.

Take care.

Anniegetyourgun · 19/01/2013 14:49

Hope you realise with this latest stunt that it's definitely not you who's the peculiar one. If we were all sat along a (vast) sofa right now, watching a film in which the heroine's ex brought his mother along to try and get her to come back to him, we'd all be jeering "what a loser!" and throwing peanuts at the screen, wouldn't we? It is really very weird behaviour on the part of both of them, and would be quite funny if it wasn't also scary. I wonder if his mum used to harangue other mums in the playground for not forcing their children to play with hers...

ladyWordy · 19/01/2013 14:52

Oh, I'd forgotten the suicide ploy! Nice try, Mr psychopath. And he recruited his bully of a mother as well, did he??

That reminds me of another thread we saw a short time ago, where a woman was trying to escape her knife wielding ex - and found herself stalked by him and his unhinged mother. :( the apple doesn't fall far....

I'm so full of admiration for you for not cracking, Tizzy. You really are an amazing woman. And bravo to your parents too - they stopped all that manipulation dead in its tracks. Good on them!

Please talk to police on 101 if you haven't already done so. I have a feeling there will be more (sorry to say).

izzyizin · 19/01/2013 14:59

So he's not just an abusive and controlling twunt? He a racist, misogynistic, abusive and controlling twunt Angry

I do so hope that a black or mixed race police officer is charged with the task of putting sonny right, and I also hope that you won't omit to recount that particular incident to the boys/girls in blue should you have occasion to speak to them again about Mr thinks he's DemiGod.

Bloody hell, Tizzy, you don't 'alf pick 'em! I'm tempted to ask what secure ward mental health unit you found him in? Grin

Anniegetyourgun · 19/01/2013 15:04

You forgot "Oedipal".

Jux · 19/01/2013 17:20

Oh yes, do tell that midnight interrogation story to the police/anyone who'll listen.

Well done for being so strong (you probably don't feel it, but you are), and aother Thanks for your parents who are dealing with it all perfectly. Wish everyone had parents like yours.

ArtsMumma · 19/01/2013 17:38

Never let that doubt creep in that maybe you over-reacted, imagined it, whatever... how he made you feel was REAL and your feelings are justified - how you feel is always valid. Also, this type of obsessive stalking/getting his mummykins to sort it all out for her little boy, wont last... remember how he could only keep the nice guy act up for so long when you were together? He will only be able to keep the bewildered-hard-done-by-adoring-lover act up for long as well. Then even psychomum might get a glimpse of his true colours.

My advice is to stay strong, keep this thread going for as long as you feel it helps and make sure your parents know all of this so that they understand what you are going through - holding back will make it harder for them to support you and make you feel isolated. Your parents sound fantastic. You clearly mean so much to them, enjoy that love after so much negativity in the recent past. Past being the important word!

HotDAMNlifeisgood · 19/01/2013 18:53

Hooray for your work colleagues, and mostly hurray for you! You're doing brilliantly.

I wish there was a "like" button for posts like garlic's

LiveItUp · 19/01/2013 19:55

Another vote for garlic's thread. I had an ex a long time ago who threatened to commit suicide when I left. A very wise friend told me that I was not responsible for their life, they were, blackmail was not the foundation for an ongoing relationship. It helped me keep walking away and not look back (and of course they didn't kill themselves!).

Keep going, you have a wonderful network of family and friends around you who all want to see you as happy as you DESERVE to be. Keep going, and don't look back.

TotalTizzy · 25/01/2013 04:59

I can't quite believe I'm on MN at 4.30 in the morning but I am really struggling and I just need to get this off my chest Hmm Everyone on here has been so incredibly supportive, I was hoping that maybe someone could give me some words of advice regarding the aftermath of leaving an abusive relationship.

The past few days have been pretty awful. I can hardly eat, I feel panicky a lot of the time and I am barely sleeping all because of the terrible guilt I am feeling. I was glad that I left XP but I just feel so bloody awful. Despite him being given words of advice by the police last weekend to leave me alone he has contacted me twice since, once via email to my work address (IT have now blocked him) and once via letter to my parents' house. He has now been issued a harassment warning by the police so I'm hoping that's the last I hear from him but the things he wrote have seriously affected me.

He told me that my behaviour during our relationship was so bad that he found it very difficult to live with me. He said my paranoia and accusations of him being up to no good were 'not normal' and that no man would ever put up with that. He said I am extremely insecure and clearly troubled, that he tried his best with me but I obviously have a lot of deep rooted anger and problems that I took out on him. He said his friends and family are 'appalled' that I just upped and left him like I did and I shouldn't 'run away when times are tough.' Basically he has put the entire blame on me and the worst thing is I believe him Hmm I literally cannot sleep for thinking constantly about how suspicious I was of him, how needy and unreasonable I was, especially towards the end of our relationship - I really thought I had lost my mind in the last few months and I feel embarrassed and ashamed of how I acted.

He has also asked for monthly payments towards his credit card bills as I 'enjoyed and took advantage of the nice meals and weekend breaks' that he paid for. He then gave me some spiel about how his family are struggling financially at the moment and he is expected to help them out, followed by: 'not that you'd care though.'

He has also said he will love me forever and he is desperate for us to give it another go - he veers from or extreme to another and while I never want to see or hear from him again I can't help but feel I am the cause of all this. He even said I made him act 'out of character at times' because of the stress I put him under. I suppose the rational part of me thinks that if I was THAT bad then he would have left me a long time ago or he would have let me go when I previously attempted to break up but tbh I don't know what to think anymore.

My GP has put me on the waiting list for counselling and he has prescribed some AD's and diazepam as he thinks I am suffering from severe anxiety. He has also signed me off work for a week which is helpful but I feel bad letting my boss and colleagues down.

So sorry for this ridiculously long post, I am just feeling so low and needed to get all of that written down somewhere. Also, if anyone could reassure me that I'm not going insane it would be much appreciated! Smile

OP posts:
webweaverToo · 25/01/2013 05:13

Oh love, I've been thinking about you all week and checking back regularly to see how you are. I'm mostly a lurker, but seeing as I live on the other side of the world (NZ) I'm awake while most of MN is still asleep, so here's my hand to hold while we wait for the regulars to come back online.

You are not going insane - please believe me. He's the one who's done this to you - he's mixed you up so much that you don't know whether you're coming or going, and it will take a while for you to get back to feeling like "you" again. But you will. As long as you and your wonderful parents keep on the same path and keep away from him.

He's a real bad 'un. Some of the things you told us earlier in your thread made my blood run cold.

YOU ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING. I'll post this now so you know I'm here and then we can chat a bit if you like. Kia kaha - stay strong.

IfYoureHappyAndYouKnowIt · 25/01/2013 05:23

Hi Tizzy

Sorry you are feeling so rubbish. It sounds like he is being really awful and doing what he can to completely mess with your mind.

But it's not you it's him.

It sounds like he is lashing out and going from one thing to another to make you feel bad and push responsibility onto you.

Keep talking to us and your rl network. It will get better. Go back to the gp if you need to and see whether you can get the counseling brought forward. That could really help I think.

webweaverToo · 25/01/2013 05:42

Perhaps it would be helpful for you to think about something you wrote earlier on in your thread. You said:

I keep thinking of the times we've argued and he has said: "You would drive any man insane," "You come across as so nice to everyone else but you treat me like shit," "You've got an evil streak in you," "You just want to grind me down until I crack," "You've got issues," "You're a nasty piece of work." God, sometimes I wonder if it's ME who is abusive. He certainly thinks so.

Do you remember how a few posters said you should switch the words around? Like this?

What he really means: "I would drive any woman insane," "I come across as so nice to everyone else but I treat you like shit," "I've got an evil streak in me," "I just want to grind you down until you crack," "I've got issues," "I'm a nasty piece of work."

It's so clear from everything that you've written, that this is who he truly is. For over a year he's been projecting all his awful, sadistic, bullying, controlling characteristics onto you and telling you that you're the problem, not him. That's why you're so confused, and why you feel so guilty - because day after day he's been telling you this stuff about yourself that simply isn't true.

Now that you've escaped, you're feeling the residual effects of him telling you all that shit every day - compounded by the fact that he's managed to contact you since you left and has continued heaping the blame and the headfuckery onto your shoulders.

deXavia · 25/01/2013 05:42

like webweaverToo - a lurker from the other side of the world but can hand hold through the night if needed.

As awful as the letter is - in time to come you'll look back at what he has said as proof that he really was abusive. He is trying to twist the story - because he believes it will work the same as before, he twists the story, you stand down and he won. But you left - you had the courage, dignity and enough people who love you and believe you to leave. Guess what you won. And he's really pissed about that so he is lashing out, trying to blame you, find anyway to keep contact (the money) and a way to retell the story so he's the good guy.

As is often said on MN - ignore, ignore, ignore - as hard as that may be

Sleep probably wont come now but if you need to chat there are people on line. DOn't feel alone

maras2 · 25/01/2013 05:46

Hiya Tizzy.Well done for coping as well as you have been.Early morning thinking can get rather muddled but I'm sure that once your family are up and about,and you have RL people to talk to,things will become clearer.There's a very sweary M'sNet saying that you should say to your STBX.It's 'Fuck off to the far side of fuck and when you get there fuck off some more you twat'.Repeat ad inf. < Get me, Latin before 6 o'clock >Best wishes Mx.

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