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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

Sick of trying to 2nd guess his moods all the time, feeling so anxious and unhappy

12 replies

TwoFeetStuck · 19/01/2015 10:21

Been together just over 3 years. Even from the beginning he was difficult to work out, played mind games, led me on and messed me about but somehow we survived. Last year was our first year living together and I learnt that he was confrontational and highly argumentative. Unpredictable moods and unfair expectations. ("I want you to work/I don't want you to work" ) etc. I learnt I couldn't win no matter what I did. It was an awful year, weekly arguments over nothing but he'd drag them on far longer than need be despite my pleas of "kissing and making up". Eventually I could cope with it no longer, his animated piss taking, his impressions of me, his sarcasm etc and I told him we were not working out. He accepted part blame and promised he would stop being argumentative and confrontational.

He did stop and we had a nice few months but it's started up again. Past two weeks he's been in one. It makes me paranoid and I end up asking what's wrong, he snaps saying it's me asking that which puts him in a mood. Last night perfect example of how he used to be ... He asked me what the plans were for the following week. I didn't know if he meant work, school, hobbies or what so asked what he meant. He snapped "oh got fucks sake, I just wanted to know what everyone was upto next week but you don't want to tell me got some reason! Forget it!". This carried on long after I explained my shifts and any appointments for the week he continued to say I didn't want to tell him anything.

Sunday morning we had a very rare lie in together with no kids in house. I asked him to stroke my boob. He half heartedly poked around a bit then stopped so I said "you could at least act as if you enjoy it". Well that was it, he shouted that I did his "fucking head in", decided to inform me that he is not a dog and will not. "Perform" just because I demand it (ffs a woman asks her man to touch her, is that really an awful thing to do??). He went on and on. I said "ok come on, let's not argue, we don't get many opportunities to lie in bed together, can we have a kiss and cuddle?" So he snapped "nah. I'll see how your mood is later tonight and make a decision then" Shock he was basically saying he'll judge my behaviour later and decide whether I deserve his attention if not. That's fucking awful.

I'm just sick of not knowing where I stand with him. One minute he's lovely, next minute he's horrible. He also denies saying stuff and tries to make out that I'm not listening. Last night he said he was working late Thursday and that he'd told me a million times and he'd said that all along and I just don't listen. Within the same conversation he said was working late Tuesday and that he's said that all along snd had never said he'd be late Thursday at all Confused sick to death of it all.

OP posts:
EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 19/01/2015 10:25

He's emotionally abusive. He's a head fuck and not a good man or partner. You really should get him away from your children.

Fudgeface123 · 19/01/2015 10:26

He is abusing you emotionally and verbally, you need to get away from him now...I'm amazed you haven't already Flowers

TwoFeetStuck · 19/01/2015 10:30

Another example from last night. I asked him to bring a bottle of wine in on his way home. He did. As we sat down to watch tv he said "shall we open the wine then?" And I said "just give me a minute to finish this drink. When I finished it I said "right I'll pour us a glass each" and he said "no I'm going to make a cup of tea" Confused I said "you said you were going to have a wine with me a few minutes ago!?" And he snapped "I'm at work tomorrow!! I'm not drinking when I have work in morning!". Yet it was him that asked to open the wine???!!!

OP posts:
AttilaTheMeerkat · 19/01/2015 10:34

What you are describing here is an abusive relationship. Abusers are not nasty all the time but the nice/nasty cycle is a continuous one. What you've also seen here is that the power and control ante has ramped up over time. He has and continues to test you to see how much you will accept.

He will always move the goalposts and keep you second guessing; such men actively enjoy seeing their chosen victim's discomfort. He thinks you are weak and there purely to be punished. Such men actually hate women, all of them.

He needs to be gone from your life now before he further drags you and your children down into his pit. Is this really what you want to teach your children about relationships?.

It looks forbidding to leave and fear as much as anything else has kept you within this but no obstacle is insurmountable. Staying at all within this will destroy you ultimately as well as your children who will learn how to abuse others or to be controlled themselves in the same ways as you are currently. I do not think you would ever want either scenario for them.

Womens Aid is who I would call today on 0808 2000 247.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 19/01/2015 10:36

What he did there last night was a technique called gaslighting; it is a further weapon in their arsenal of abuse. He is deliberately trying to get you to question your own judgment by confusing you further about what was said and not said.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 19/01/2015 10:49

I'm sorry you're in an abusive relationship. If it's been difficult from the beginning the only way it has survived is if you've stopped complaining.... and that's just not healthy. He shaped up briefly when you refused to tolerate it once but the fact that he has slipped straight back into old habits should tell you that this is as good as he gets.

I suggest you deserve better.

NamesNick · 19/01/2015 13:57

how dare you request a bottle of wine and not open it immediately as he walks through the door. I hope you thanked him for doing this amazing favour for you Hmm

Op. he sounds awful and you sound miserable. im sorry you're having to deal with this.

the advice on this thread is great, please read and digest it and hopefully you will come out the other side

he sounds like a prize knobber

GoatsDoRoam · 19/01/2015 14:14

You do know where you stand with him: you are anxious and unhappy. Because he acts in a way that makes you anxious and unhappy.

He acts that way because he wants to.

maybe you would find this checklist or the links at the top of this thread useful.

GoatsDoRoam · 19/01/2015 14:19

One minute he's lovely, next minute he's horrible.

The "nice/nasty" cycle is part of the abuse.

It's what's making you so anxious, the not knowing what to expect, and walking on eggshells as a result: it's part of the abuse.

If he can be nice some of the time, but chooses not to be, that says it all about what kind of a person he is, and how much he respects you, really.

Stepawayfromthesweeties · 19/01/2015 22:48

Sounds just like my ex. He didn't think he had mood swings, said he would just get a bit grumpy (I think calling his 2mth old son a dirty little bastard for being sick goes way beyond grumpy!!). They are it nice men & do not deserve to have us in their lives. I split from mine 3mths ago & it's been the hardest but also the best thing I've done. There is a rosy future out there but it can just take a while to get there Thanks

Velvetbee · 19/01/2015 23:20

Leave.
Please leave.
You deserve so much better than this.

YellowTangerine · 19/01/2015 23:27

I was also in a relationship like this a few months ago and I finally left. I kept thinking that maybe it will get better. It doesn't I'm afraid. If anything it gets worse.
You need to pluck up as much courage as you can and make the final leap. Even if it hurts it's the right thing to do and you will see this in a few months when your life starts to improve. Best of luck op.

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