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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

My boyfriend said I'm not very empathetic to his needs

191 replies

toomanybooksnotenoughspace · 01/12/2014 08:35

Me and my boyfriend went away for the weekend. On the journey back home yesterday (which was an approximately 2 and half hour drive which he did) he complained of being tired and bad back etc. We stopped off at a service station so that he could get 5 minutes kip because he felt he might fall asleep at the wheel if he didn't. I told him I would pop to the loo and did he want a coffee/sandwich etc. I went to the loo first, then went and got him a coffee. The lid was not put on properly and spilled hot coffee all over my hand so popped into the bathroom again to run cold water over it. Anyway when I got to the car he was really annoyed asking why I had taken so long so I explained that there had been a queue at Starbucks and also that I had spilled hot coffee all over my hand so wanted to run cold water over it. He then said that he didn't want it as it been into the ladies bathroom and therefore it was unhygienic. I told him that I had not been to the loo, only to wash my hand and it had only been near the sinks etc. He was going to throw it away but I told him no, I had just bought it for him so he should drink it- which he did. He didn't say thank you for the coffee and only asked if my hand was OK until later on.

Anyway we start our journey again and he complains of a bad back, to which I start rubbing his back and he asks for a massage when we get back. I say yes, I can give you a massage. He then has a go at me for not offering one first saying that he always offers to give me a massage and that he should not have to always ask for one. I tell him I was going to offer anyway but he got there first and he said he didn't believe me. He says this is further evidence of me not being very empathetic to his needs.

He had been in a grump earlier after we had had quite a long walk near where were staying. We had for most of the walk walked together, chatting etc but on the final leg to the car park we had to go up a narrow winding roadside which made it difficult to walk side by side. I ended up walking a bit in front of him and this upset him because it made it look like we might of had a falling out. He had a go at me because he had mentioned this before in previous walks and that I should remember this.

He had been unwell last week with a D & V virus. He said that I was uncaring towards him because I did not offer to come round to look after him, bring him food/medicines etc. I have a 3 yo DD who I look after full time on my own and it would be quite a slog for us to get to his from where we live. Also he described his illness to me and I thought I don't want to run the risk of either of us catching it so didn't offer. But I think I got the tone from him when I spoke to him when he was ill that it would be best for us not to come.

I know this is all quite petty but it is not out of character for my boyfriend of 8 months to be like this. It irks me because I don't like the accusation that I am unempathetic towards him as he often does things repeatedly that get on my nerves which I tell him all the time. He complains if I seemingly don't help him - but doesn't remember all the times I have done nice things for him like offering massages in the past if he's had a bad day, or helping him tidy the kitchen, cooking for him, looking after him after a recent operation etc.

He will often get annoyed if I haven't done something he needs help with. I told him that I am not a psychic and that sometimes he needs to ask, otherwise I won't know. Also usually when he does 'ask' if comes out all angry and hostile which makes me not really want to help. For example I didn't like the feeling of 'having' to give him a massage. I otherwise consider myself to be reasonably helpful in that I will help/offer to help if I can see something needs doing.

Sorry this is so long, its just its weighing on me and also would like some MN views on who is being unreasonable.

OP posts:
PedantMarina · 02/12/2014 07:58

"right" not "tight" of course...

gets coffee

MorrisZapp · 02/12/2014 08:05

Christ it gets worse. You got a row for saying well done? Run, run now and never look back. He will not get better, he will get worse. Possibly quite a lot worse, possibly very soon. You know what you have to do, good luck xx

DollyRocker1 · 02/12/2014 08:18

too many I agree with all the others it won't get any better. My ex was delightful for the first 9 months but slowly began to put me down making me feel like I could do nothing right.

First it was dismay that I wouldn't eat hot curries, then he wasn't happy how I pronounced the word horse (I apparently put a rogue w in - as far as I know I say it like other Kent folk), then the fact I wanted to do my coat up before going out in January. The final straw was the fact that I wasn't adventurous enough ("you wouldn't be happy in a tent if a scorpion came in" was his passing shot when we broke up).

I noticed similar behaviour in a guy I was seeing before him. But that appeared after a month so it was easy to give him the push as I wasn't attached by then.

What I found hard with my ex was that he was such a lovely guy with his family and with friends so I knew how good he could be. It seemed like only I was seeing his negative side.

BeeOrchid · 02/12/2014 08:40

First it was dismay that I wouldn't eat hot curries

I once triggered STBXH's rage for using the word dismay. "Did I really know what it meant?". It went on and on and dictionaries were brandished. I was mostly placating and apologetic over my outrageous language. As well as terrified by the sheer unexplainable lunacy.
Wankers, aren't they?

Please get out of this relationship OP. Don't do it to your DD. Don't blight her childhood.

CogitOIOIO · 02/12/2014 08:50

I'm glad you realise that it's an unhealthy relationship OP. The 'hooks' you mention will mostly be the ones in your mind which is so anxious to have a Happy Ever After.

How about ditching him now and preparing for a nice, peaceful Christmas with people who actually like you instead? Or just you and DD?

AMumInScotland · 02/12/2014 08:59

You are only hooked if you choose to be. And if you choose to believe that by being obedient you can ever get the 'nice' version of him to stay out permanently and not be replaced by the arsehole.

And YOU CAN'T! No matter how hard you try to do what he wants, he is only ever going to move the goalposts.

You said 'Well done'. And he STILL had to have a go at you, just because you didn't pick the 'right' answer from a list that only ever existed inside his head.

And, you know what, if you had said 'Thank you' - he wouldn't have been happy either. He would have told you that you should have told him how well he had done in driving all that distance.

This is the way it goes. Your place is in the wrong. No matter what you do, the 'rules' of what to do to please him will change whenever he feels you ned to be put back into your place. Because as long as you are focussed on trying to please him, you will put up with absolutely anything in the hope of being treated well even for a moment. And that suits him just fine. While you are doing that, he can afford to be nice and allow you to believe that you get on well together.

He will not change. And you really, really, really shouldn't continue with this relationship, because it is never going to be what you hope for and what you deserve.

fromparistoberlin73 · 02/12/2014 09:06

think this sentance sums it up: A wise MNer once said that a good relationship is one that you don't keep starting threads on MN about

OP, I empathise- but you are LUCKY- you dont share a home, or money, a child or any legalities with this man

many women have similar arseholes but they cant easily up and leave as there are major legal issues to overcome

you however can dump this man, not worry about shared parenting and continue your life. Stay single and build your self esteem so that you dont attract abusers

you are lfortunate, in that you can easily escape and start over

I wish you and your DD the best

bleedingheart · 02/12/2014 09:23

pretty soon you won't even find him sexually attractive...you will sleep with him to keep the nasty face away, but it will be crap. I mean, no red blooded male acts like this, fgs

I must admit my first thought upon reading the first post was 'how can you possibly want sex with a man like this?' I think whingeing about wanting a massage and moaning about having to walk single-file like he did would turn me off forever.

It won't get better.

I really hope you decide to end this relationship.

LineRunner · 02/12/2014 09:25

I think it's the feeling of relief that you may be dysfunctionally 'hooked' on, OP. The honeymoon/calm after the storm, the nice bits, bring about a feeling of blessed relief - often in tandem with loving words and actions, even passion - and this gets confused with Actual Love.

But it isn't love at all. It's all a dangerous game. Him looking for control, you looking for that feeling of blessed relief that you think is Love.

Please get out of this and spend some time on yourself. Flowers

Guiltypleasures001 · 02/12/2014 09:29

Oh op

Let your knee become empathically attached to his balls, and go and have a Merry Xmas somewhere he isn't ffs .

BeCool · 02/12/2014 10:13

I was quite taken aback by this and upset because I had said thank you earlier

The thing is it doesn't matter what you say. He would have made a drama/issue out of something else - anything at all, simply because he wants to pick and pick and snip and belittle you, and grind you down until you are "in your place".

And this is not going to improve magically if the relationship proceeds. it really isn't. No one is going to wave a magic wand and change him. this is who he is, this is how he works and this is what your life will be like (at best) if you stay with him.

MonstrousRatbag · 02/12/2014 10:33

Keep Calm And Leg It.

missnatalie70 · 02/12/2014 10:33

You have a 3 year old, you dont need another child

HazleNutt · 02/12/2014 11:44

I have to agree with others. I've been in a similar relationship - and I thought the guy was the love of my life! But while I'm generally a smart, confident person with totally adequate social skills, I suddenly could not do anything right. He corrected my grammar. He criticized my house - it was weird I didn't have family photos around, because he did. (He had a photo of himself on his night stand, that should have told me something). I did not react appropriately to whatever he did. I was not thankful enough - even if I had told him repeatedly not to do the thing I was supposed to be thankful for. I was not chatty enough. My friends did not act appropriately either and hurt his feelings.

By the time the relationship ended (and he ended it, by the way. I was still madly in love and thought it was all great) I was a small little scared mouse, sneaking around on eggshells, scared of doing something that would upset him and make him sulk. Again.

Honestly, this is not what a great relationship looks like. I now have a lovely DH, who thinks I'm bloody fabulous. Grin

momb · 02/12/2014 11:52

OP, concentrate on what he's telling you about himself and imagine what life will be like in year, 2 years, 5 years, when you've been on egg shells so long and still he is making you feel as if you've messed up. Leave now while the stakes are so low.

Riverland · 02/12/2014 11:55

Don't expose your child to this man and this kind of dysfunctional behaviour.

She deserves more from you.

BertieBotts · 02/12/2014 12:00

Read this, OP. Life changer for me five years ago (five years yesterday I left, actually :))

www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/traits.html

Disclaimer I am obviously not diagnosing anything at all based on a thread on the internet. But read it. It's illuminating.

OnGoldenPond · 02/12/2014 12:04

You need this man like a fish needs a bicycle.

What a dead weight.

PurplePunkPrincess · 02/12/2014 12:09

Sounds like my ex. Run away!

TheLittleOneSaidRollOver · 02/12/2014 12:58

I really don't want to waste my time/life with someone who is a controlling twat.

So why are you?

How to break your own bad behaviours:
1 notice you are doing it.
2 consider why you are doing it.
3 decide to stop doing it.
4 stop doing it.
5 fill the void with something better.
repeat if necessary.

You've got stuck at step 2 or maybe 1. What's stopping you making the leap to step 3, 4, 5?

Bumpsadaisie · 02/12/2014 13:09

Im not a professional but have some knowledge/experience. Of course no-one can make diagnoses over the internet but in case it is of any use or worth or relevance at all, the thing that came immediately to my mind when reading about this chap is that he has borderline personality disorder traits.

The black and white thinking, the emotional yo-yoing, the dependence, and it sounds like he is so anxious about abandonment that he uses all the tactics in his power to try and control you and make sure you never have space to think about anything other than his needs. The tragedy for him is that he will push you away (I hope you do get away, and quick!) through this maladaptive way of trying to relate to significant others.

If we think about it, what IS going on when he gets so angry when you do something seemingly innocuous, like saying "well done" instead of "thank you" or walking slightly ahead rather than beside on the path? Why DO those things make him so upset/angry? It can't be those things in themselves but is it because they are trivial. It must be because they remind him that you are separate, he doesn't have control over you and therefore that you potentially could abandon him. Maybe when you are getting on well and you haven't "done anything" to shatter his illusion, he feels like you two are sort of merged into one. Then when you do something that demonstrates this isn't the case, he is horrified.

It sounds like he is emotionally very underdeveloped, he may be a man in age but in emotional life he still hasn't successfully sorted out the toddler stage. My son is three. He has been quite difficult all morning, one minute sunny and happy and the next minute howling because I cut his nana up wrong. One minute loving and kind to me and the next minute furious and raging with me because I did the wrong thing or wouldn't let him do what he wanted. Does it sound familiar?!

2rebecca · 02/12/2014 13:15

He sounds more like a winy self centred child than a man. Empathy in a relationship should work both ways. It doesn't here. Time to move on.

ouryve · 02/12/2014 13:15

the next minute howling because I cut his nana up wrong

Is there a right way to cut up your nana? ShockWink

My ex took particular delight in explaining to me how my accent was all wrong, btw. That one seems to be a common thread. If I'd seen that 9 signs list in my early 20s, I doubt I would ever have married him. 2 and 4 are particularly apt to me.

Hissy · 02/12/2014 13:50

I lost an afternoon once, Ex blithered on and on and on because I put the milk back in the door in the place where the OJ usually goes.

Every time I spoke, in the end, Ex'd mime turning down the volume to try to silence me. he told me I speak like a man.

According to my my newest squeeze to be, my voice is a little bit gravelly, sexy, sweet and adorable according to... :) and he's french. He should know Grin

But when he tells me all these lovely things.... guess what pops into my head? Yeah, the fuckwit...

I wasted 10 years of my life with him, lost so very much of my life, am stuck with him in it as we have a son. i hate myself for inflicting this prick on my darling boy.

Bumpsadaisie · 02/12/2014 14:15

Is there a right way to cut up your nana? ShockWink

It seems so, Ouyve and the way I did it was most definitely NOT the right way. He wasn't able to tell me any more about the right way, though because he had moved onto another complaint by then

He's waking up from his nap now in a much better mood ... Smile

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