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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

feel like im loosing my mind with this...

315 replies

lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 00:43

Hi all .... where do i start?!
I am so head fucked by my boyfriends behaviour i cant think clearly anymore,
The relationship is so one sided and i make so much effort while he makes none and doesnt even really pretend he does its almost like i should feel priveledged that hes even bothered to talk to me so what am i moaning about.
We dont spend much time together tbh and theres not really a good reason why just that hes so busy ( doing nothing ) apparently.
I wish i could record our phone conversations just to play someone in the hope they will tell me im not going mad as they just get more and more bizarre, he goes from singing how much he loves me and stupid love songs to me down the phone which he says is romantic but just feels sarcastic to a couple of minutes later telling me he doesnt think i give a damn about him i should prove it and hes not sure he sees a future for us....this switch can happen bk n forth a good few times in every conversation then he laughs hysterically saying hes only joking i shouldnt take things so seriously etc etc.
God this all sounds so petty theres so much more weird things that i wish someone would explain to me why he does this as i feel like im loosing my mind atm
Im going through a really rough period of my life atm and i do really love this guy ( weve been together 2 years ) so its not as easy as just dump him although i know that may sound like the best plan.
My friends think he is emotionally abusive and that his behaviour is getting worse not better
Id love some impartial views or advice if anyone would like to chat
TIA

OP posts:
pocketsaviour · 14/10/2015 18:32

OP, do you think you could text him back and say "Ah well, I'm having an early night tonight so never mind, we'll see each other another time"? Why should you be sitting around waiting for him to bother showing his face?

The controlling sex aspect is another very familiar red flag. This man is not your friend.

What would you need, in order to walk away from this?

JassyRadlett · 14/10/2015 18:37

Oh honey. Get shot.

The point of renting would be to test whether you're compatible living together before making a huge financial commitment together.

I always thought buying property with (now)DH was in some ways a bigger commitment than marriage.

He sounds simply awful. Don't hang out for the dream. It's not coming, and you could waste so much time.

lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 18:55

@pocketsaviour if i tell him not to come tonight he will punish me for it by ignoring me for days

OP posts:
DoreenLethal · 14/10/2015 19:01

What about him meant you had high hopes for the future? He sounds like a right twat.

lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 19:05

When we 1st met i really really liked him....hes never been very caring tbh but we got on so well n had such a laugh together he made me feel alive
Now the jokes always on me about my weight my appearance etc and of course hes always "only joking" plus i feel so wound up inside that he wont let me tell him how i feel

OP posts:
LeaveMyWingsBehindMe · 14/10/2015 19:13

@pocketsaviour if i tell him not to come tonight he will punish me for it by ignoring me for days

And once again, ask yourself why this even matters? You have nothing good to say about him! Are you some kind of masochist?

LeaveMyWingsBehindMe · 14/10/2015 19:15

What do you mean he won't 'let you' tell him how you feel? Tou don't need permission to tell him - just tell him! If you mean he doesn't listen, that's clearly because he doesn't care.

What are you doing with this man? All you've done on this thread is moan about how awful he is.

lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 19:18

Ok thanks i think ill go now....no im not a masocist just fallen for someone who treats me badly like im sure many women on here have done in the past and was hoping somehow i could change the way he treats me thats all

OP posts:
lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 19:19

He wont let me tell him as when i start to he says hes going and puts the phone down on me because he doesnt want to hear my whinging

OP posts:
DoreenLethal · 14/10/2015 19:19

hes never been very caring tbh but we got on so well n had such a laugh together he made me feel alive

You know that is all an act though? It was to reel you in. Relationships are more than just getting on well!

The ignoring and not caring, that's the real him. The whole point of dating before marrying is to find out what sort of people they really are. Yours is a nasty bit of stuff. The only person that is going to suffer if you continue this is you. And if you get pregnant before you get away, your kids too. And you will be linked to him 4eva.

MadgeMak · 14/10/2015 19:22

You can't change him. This is who he is.

DoreenLethal · 14/10/2015 19:24

was hoping somehow i could change the way he treats me thats all

What you need to there is to get a different man/person. That's how it works!

Unless you can fund a brain transplant of course.

Goingtobeawesome · 14/10/2015 19:27

You can't change him as he likes being like this. Why wouldn't he? Sex when he wants, someone to bully when he wants. Why don't you believe you deserve better and why haven't you noticed he isn't the only man in the world?

toastedbeagle · 14/10/2015 19:28

I'd just text him and break up! I'm sorry you haven't got the answers on here that you wanted but I think your relationship does not sound healthy.

SmallLegsOrSmallEggs · 14/10/2015 19:29

You canmot change the way he behaves.
You can change who you are having an rs with.

He was nice/funny/interested when you met him but this, this now, this is the real him.

YOU deserve better.

You should check out the EA support thread. You are not alone. You don't need to settle for this.

TheWoodenSpoonOfMischief · 14/10/2015 19:45

Please don't waste any more of your life with him.
This is not what a normal relationship should be like. Listen to the advice here, listen to your friends and listen to your instincts and what they're telling you.

MarkRuffaloCrumble · 14/10/2015 19:45

You came on here for some advice on how to change the man you want to spend your future with.

There is only one way to change your future husband into someone loving and caring and that is to ditch this guy and find someone else.

This man is clearly an arsehole. He does not love you or respect you, he is selfish and crap in bed and he has already destroyed your self-esteem to the point where you don't know your own mind.

If you really want the happy ending, give yourself a chance by starting with someone who at least has potential.

When this guy is nasty, it is not just a joke. That is the cover which allows him to continue being awful to you without ever having to take the consequences.

Once you stand up for yourself and say "I deserve better than this shit" you will actually start to feel better and you will realise that it is no 'punishment' for him not to visit. Sure, you might miss him, you might wish he was there being nice to you, but realistically what you will be missing is him making nasty 'jokes' at your expense while you crush your own opinions, hopes and dreams to appease him.

Please listen to every single poster on here - not one person has said he sounds even vaguely nice. There's a reason for that, we have all met and had relationships with men like this. We have read about hundreds more of them on here. This does not end happily ever after.

NerdyBird · 14/10/2015 19:57

He's absolutely awful. He isn't going to suddenly see the light and change.
Please don't buy a house with him. Dump him.

lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 19:59

Thank you all for your advice im stood crying and chain smoking waiting for him to turn up i wonder what tonight has in store :(

OP posts:
FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse · 14/10/2015 20:13

Hello, lostgirl :) I'm not surprised you're feeling lost!

Right. Firstly, you're not crazy! No one who hasn't been through the immense brain-drain of someone like this, will ever understand how lost and confused it makes you feel. You're reacting completely normally to a horrible situation.

Basically, your brain is trying to make something true that isn't. It's called cognitive dissonance. So when he says he loves you and wants the best for you, you believe him, but then he hurts you and upsets you, and you know that's true too. So your brain is trying to find a way to make his actions fit his words. It can't, because they don't. But he he insists they should, so you keep trying.

It feels a bit like you're thinking constantly just to stay still.

It takes time and distance to find a bit of peace. Do things in your own time :) there's no hurry.

So! First step, look at his actions:-

He mocks you renting (belittles your choices)
He pressurises you into moving to his town with the promise that he will be nicer if you do (not true, why would he be? Once you're financially tied to him he can be nastier and you won't be able to escape easily)
His idea of sex is degrading and you don't enjoy it (selfish and potential for getting much worse)
He says something that upsets you, when you state you are upset, he mocks you for not taking it as a joke (being upset when someone says nasty things is a normal reaction. He is also setting you up so that later on he can say "I told you I was always going to be out with mates! You can't be angry now!")
If you don't drop everything when he wants to see you he will punish you for days, but he can cancel as and when he pleases (this isn't how normal people behave, you're allowed to have your own life too, it's one rule for him and another for you).

So there's a few things that show that he does not treat you with love or respect.

It's really hard coming to terms with the fact that the person you love is not the person you think they are. The person you love doesn't exist, because you're looking for a nice version of him, and he isn't nice.

Give yourself to time to let it all sink in. If you can, distance yourself a bit. I won't tell you how long it took me to finally leave my nasty ex once I'd seen the light. Or how many times I tried to make things work.

What I have learnt is that it's so much easier to love someone than to like them. You should never stay with someone who you don't like.

There are good times in every terrible relationship. You only see how far it is from normal once you're in a healthy relationship.

Look after you. Give yourself time to let yourself see him for who he really is. Once you do, that feeling of confusion will start to fade. Flowers I hope you find a way forwards and away from this man. You deserve so much better.

Anxiousunfortunate · 14/10/2015 20:23

I ended up staying with a seriously abusive man both emotionally and physically. The bruises healed but what he did emotionally remains many years later.

Please leave for the sake of your self esteem and MH.

lostgirl83 · 14/10/2015 20:24

@fuckyouchrisandthathorse.....thank you for such a nice msg it made me cry!
Its so easy for people to say just send a text telling him you never want to see him again but so hard to explain to people that hes pickled my head that much that i dont even trust my own judgement enough to do the one thing i should be doing ( scarily maybe thats the idea )
I wish i had a friend like you but your words mean alot
I will struggle through tonight and then distance myself .... i wont answer every call just so i can listen to him either take the mick out of me, sit in silence while he texts other people while on the phone to me or tells me his friends calling and he will call back in a min but doesnt so leaving me carrying my phone around all night hoping he will remember
I need to wean myself off him i know hes bad for me
I appreciate all the advice on here and hope i can still come back and chat through this hard stage while i try to ignore him....ive never done that before so no idea how he will react to it

OP posts:
mrstweefromtweesville · 14/10/2015 20:32

Good, you're thinking the right way. If you weaken, read all your posts together and imagine its a friend saying these things about her boyfriend. Give 'her' advice - then act on it. You know he's draining you emotionally, and using you... you're doing the right thing in trying to break free.

FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse · 14/10/2015 20:33

It is hard. I think "pickled head" is the perfect term! That's exactly what it feels like. You're going to be ok. You know why? Because you posted here because deep down you know that this is not how it's supposed to be.

Despite all the pickling, you reached out and you are looking for ways to feel better.

Everyone who has posted can see your pain, feel your confusion, and desperately wants you to just cut out the poison. They all want to help. They all want what is best for you.

But you've made the biggest and hardest step, and that's simply seeing that something is wrong.

After a little while of distancing yourself, hopefully you'll be strong enough and sure enough to cut all ties.

One thing I will warn you of, if something called "hoovering". It's when someone nasty realises that their victim has cottoned on to them, so they try being nice for a bit to try to suck you back in.

Quite an easy test at this point (to see if they're genuinely trying to put you first) is to say, "what I really need now is a bit of space, can you not contact me for 2 weeks". If they're hoovering, they're pretty much guaranteed to not give you that time (because that would give you a chance to realise you're happier without them).

But you can always post back here. Any time. With any issue.

If you're not up to seeing him tonight, could you lie? Maybe say "just to warn you, I've got a bit of a stomach bug, probably not contagious, you can mop my brow when you get here" and see if he cancels on you :)

FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse · 14/10/2015 20:35

And I'm sorry I made you cry! Flowers

You're going to be ok.

You're responding normally to being treated terribly. Don't forget that.

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