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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: thread 28

999 replies

CharlotteCollinsinherownplace · 10/01/2014 17:57

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.
Warning signs you’re dating a loser 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’re 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

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 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
What you should expect as a starting point for your treatment in a relationship, as you will of course be treating others!!

OP posts:
wontletmesignin · 14/02/2014 16:11

Only communicate with him to arrange collection/drop off with your child.
Do not communicate with him any other time.
Get a cheap phone to put the simcard in for him to contact you on regarding your child.
Do not give him your new number, no matter what.

Do not cancel time with your new fella in order to please ex.

Most importantly, do not feel guilty over ignoring him. Let him do whatever. If he harrasses, get the police. If he comes a calling, ring the police.

justiceofthePeas · 14/02/2014 17:26

got won't is right. separate phone. switch if off most of the time. if he sends you threatening or abusive texts, report them.

haVe you had counselling or done FP?

that's re. not asking permission. i was talking to someone i had only met recently and said something like "i wasn't allowed to go out to do x" (i wasn't talking about abuse just about why i hadn'tbeen able to keep something up) and then realised how insane that sounded when I am an adult. Sad

everycloud86 · 14/02/2014 19:25

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wontletmesignin · 14/02/2014 19:29

It was unreasonable of him to approach you on your way to nursery.
He is trying to catch you off guard so to make yoi feel guilty and give in to his demands.

You know what you want, you know how to go aboit it. Dont let him change your mind.
Stay focused Thanks

everycloud86 · 14/02/2014 19:47

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wontletmesignin · 14/02/2014 20:26

Now he didnt feel guilty when he decided to catch you off guard, nor when you started crying.
So that should show you that you should not feel guilty at all.

YY to the FP. I am starting that very soon.

Stay strong!

gotanymore · 15/02/2014 07:27

What is FP?

I've had counselling, we talk about what I know I should do, how I know I should feel but it doesn't seem to be sinking in.

Karenblixen · 15/02/2014 08:01

My guess is that FP stands for Fredom Programme. I just happen to have the book in front of me with my cup of coffee Smile, gotanymore.

justiceofthePeas · 15/02/2014 10:31

FP yes the freedom program. comes highly recommended.

That and Bancroft Lundy which is make me totally certain I was doing the right thing.

justiceofthePeas · 15/02/2014 10:35

Which is what made me

gotanymore · 15/02/2014 13:16

I've just requested Lundy from the library.

FairyFi · 15/02/2014 16:55

it was a 'thing' at our FP for everyone to go order a copy of St Lundy's so that there were loads of copies in the library at any time.

you sound strong thats good to hear

everycloud86 · 15/02/2014 23:13

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TemperamentalAroundCorvids · 16/02/2014 09:29

cloud: Yes, the thinking you've kind of imagined it is very common. The usual advice on here is to make a list of the things that happened, or look back at your own posts or printouts of posts, to Remind Yourself when you need to.

At times like these, we question our own judgement, for surely either a) we were wrong to get together with our FW in the first place, or b) we were wrong in our judgement of FW recently. If we are accustomed to subconsciously look to FW for some kind of validation, then it can be hard to hang onto our own truth, but hang on we must!

wontletmesignin · 16/02/2014 10:49

Yes cloud. I have felt like maybe i imagined it all.
It is good to hear that it is common as i thought i was alone.

I also wonder at times that i have blown it all out of proportion and maybe it wasnt as bad as i feel it was.
But it was that bad.

everycloud86 · 16/02/2014 13:06

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wontletmesignin · 16/02/2014 14:11

It is difficult. Once you accept that his nice side was all part of his game,you will no longer miss that side of him.

Thats how it worked for me anyway.

Ive got his parents coming to see my ds today.
It wasnt something that i really wanted, but they werent bad to him,really.
Ive felt more pressured to do this more than anything.
I can say for certain it wasnt all my decision. But hey ho...today is the day and im filled with dread!
Ive got visions of her trying to hug me. I need to gear myself up to be assertive. Like fuck is she getting anything off me!

Because i am the bad one...they would have forgot everything their son has done and the fact she told me id never see my son again. They will expect me to play happy families.

God help me find my assertive side!

FairyFi · 16/02/2014 14:36

'like' the Jekyll and Hyde analogy Everycloud I think are using it in a FW context, as in, the brilliant and violent times with FW. I had just thought of it as the swinging betwen positions within ourselves. As you were talking about like its not as bad, or didn't really happen, to the 'I felt so distressed and bad', and thats also very Jekyll and Hyde. I keep swinging between the two positions, like the two characters.

I hear your assertive side on its way won't

sus14 · 16/02/2014 16:26

jekyll and hyde seems to sum up all these FWs, that's what is so difficult about it.

as there was a storm on friday i let FW stay here, as he was supposed to go away to his folks, then on saturday me and dd went out and we got home - and there he was - roast dinner on the table , wine the works.

He's being super nice and it's driving me bananas in keeping my head together and remmber why i am doing this while it is all fine here and calm and nice.

I've asked him to go back to a hotel tonight.

So even when i say i want to split, he doesn't listen. and we get on, but that doesn't mean i want to be with him.

I don't know what to do apart from be consistent in my message and hope that one day the penny will drop.

He wants to stay here and just not be toteher but i've told him that i can't cope mentaly with that - when he's here i feel such a stressball and I am not the same with dd. Last weekend he was away and it was so lovely and she even commented on how much nicer i was to her.

I can't believe that having made my decision - I STILL don't have the control of my own life.

All i could do is move out and rent I suppose, just get away. Massive uprooting for dd. Or I could file for divorce. I guess that would be more productive and also show him I am actualy serious.

arggg

everycloud86 · 16/02/2014 18:49

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FairyFi · 16/02/2014 19:17

tick Sus same here.. FW decided that it would be ok to 'just stay' here, after, that is. months of me spent sofa sleeping until because I couldn't spend any more nights silently crying in bed next to him. so made him up a bed inthe 2nd bedroom. why? I hear you ask.

No idea ;)

whether he's bi-polar or anything else is a red-herring Every - there is no excuse for abuse

wontletmesignin · 16/02/2014 19:21

I too thougt he suffered from a mental illness. He claimed he was diagnosed with PTSD but i still said to him "where do you draw the line between an illness to actual abuse" ill or not - it made me feel like shit to the point i questioned my sanity.
No contact seems to be the only way for these fws. They always find a way or worming their way back in!

FairyFi · 16/02/2014 19:43

I used to put his disgusting behaviour down to extreme stress in him. He never stopped ranting about work, the same thing over and over, furious, raging... he seemed sooo unbelievably stressed, yet called himself the most easy going guy he knew ... wtaf

that would be him only recognising the passive part of the P/A dynamic.

He drove his car hunched over the wheel, gripped tight and slamming through the gears, with the occasional emergency stop at 70mph to keep me on my toes (well it wasn't an actuall 70-0mph, just enough sharp breaking whilst your mind was elsewhere to feel like it was going to happen - look up and fail to see where /what???? so then ... why? ) he was just a nervous driver.

gotanymore · 16/02/2014 20:27

I still have to read back over previous posts, texts, diary entries and sometimes I can't believe what I'm reading.

My FW ex is still Jekyll and Hyde, he hand a verbal tirade last weekend then refused to talk to me for 4 days, even during drop off and pick up of dd and then invited me in for a cuppa when it picked her up a couple of days later!!

everycloud86 · 16/02/2014 20:42

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