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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

Narcissistic abuse or not ?

29 replies

Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 00:36

This is very long . The first post I typed seemed to vanish which is very frustrating .
I’m an old time munsnetter who has been away a while and I had to change my name slightly as I couldn’t get into my old account .
I have been split from my husband for seven years and have five dcs aged 27 to 8 . I’d been doing really well on my own until three years ago a man I knew from a few years back but not well and had been Facebook friends with . Popped up on Facebook on his page with loads of posts about his narcissistic ex who had totally screwed him over and thrown him out and how broken and desperate he was . I messaged asking if he was ok and he asked me to call him . During the lengthy conversation he told me his ex was a vile monster who had cheated on him and thrown him out of the pub they ran . He said she was controlling and he’d felt trapped for at least a year and not in love with her but that she had now done this to him . He’d had to move into a family holiday home and was in a bad way . She’d left him with debts and now he was going to have to go bankrupt . I fekt awful for him . Very quickly he was calling me morning noon and night and started telling me how we had so many cononcidences and how he wished he’d met me years ago . I felt a real and genuine connection . A few times he made the conversation sexual but I changed the subject . He invited me to visit . I went and over two days he treated me like a goddess . I did notice though that he was a heavy drinker . On day three he blew up at me for no reason . Accused me of inviting myself down and coming onto him despite the fact that I knew he wasn’t ready for a relationship. I was really shocked and slightly frightened by him . That night he ignored me and I was left reeling wondering what I’d done wrong .
Later he calmed down and asked me if we could just go with the flow .. stupidity I agreed . I wish I’d run when I had the chance . He showed me emails from his ex where she’d accused him of sleeping with other women . Throwing drunken rages at her and drinking all the profits . (Looking back I bet he slept with all the bar maids ) 😞
Over the next two years I have lived in a personal hell where I really did think I couldn’t live without him . He would rage at me that I was putting too much pressure on him and cut me off for a day or two before calling again (he was lonely and I think I was all he had ) . Other times he’d tell me I was everything he wanted and that he just needed more time . Then five minutes later he’d rage at me that he didn’t want a relationship . Other times he’d tell me he didn’t want to see me again because it was too much pressure and he’d always made it clear that he wasn’t ready for a relationship. I lived in a cycle of fear and anxiety .. I was suspicious of his so called innocent female friends but he’d accuse me of being jealous and paranoid . His family adored me and he would tell them I was wonderful but he wasn’t ready to commitvagain . His mum was always saying to me that he was so damaged by this evil woman .
His fb has virtually every woman he’d ever slept with on there . He’d slag them all off then next minute he’d be tagging them in posts . After tearing me down on the phone he’d then come back and tell me how much he loved me and beg me to go see him . He’d then turn round and accuse me of going down uninvited .
We went to see bands together . To family dos of his and weekends away but then later he’d claim that I’d instigated these .
Yes there were many times when I’d ask to go see him but he’s always bite my hand off . During all this time he would call every day straightvafter work and before he went to bed (usually to go on and on about his dreadful life and to rant about someone who had upset him ) but when I went through some serious things such as being admitted to hospital he would reject my calls and when I made frantic attempts to get through he’d accuse me of being a stalker . During these times he’d block me everywhere too .
His favourite phrase was why can’t you just chill .. so I’d try to .. yet even when things were good it felt like he’d engineer an argument .
Other times I would make a special effort to look nice and he’d never notice so I’d say do I look ok and he’d say you look great I told you earlier when I knew he hadn’t .
Other times he’d act as though he was in love with me .. playing songs to me saying the lyrics were relevant and this is how he fekt about me
However .. we planned a holiday together then a week before hand he yelled at me down the phone saying he didn’t want me to come as he was fed up of me banging on about other women ( I suspected something was going on with a woman he was messaging a lot ) Ivwas devastated and he went away alone .after he got back declared his undying love to me and begged me to go and see him . I went and then he told me he’d slept with the woman I was suspicious of and blamed me saying I’d gone on about her so much I’d pushed him into bed with her . Several more months of hell have ensued with him calling me two weeks ago telling me that he’d realised he’d been a fool andthat really he should be with me . He fekt such a connection . We could finish each other’s sentences etc etc no one understood him like me . However I was so drained and exhausted by this time I realised I needed to get away so I asked to go and see him last weekend with the full intention of getting some proof that I wasn’t going mad .
When I got there he was really off with me . He seemed nervous and looking over his shoulder when we went out .
When we got back he didn’t seem that interested in me and asked me if I was definitely going home the next day as he was busy after work . I smelt a bloody great rat .. so the next morning while he was in the shower I grabbed his Apple Watch (his phone was always glued on him and locked ) he’d left it on charge and I got into it and saw the whole horrific nightmare in glorious technicolour.
He’d been cheating or attempting to cheat for the whole 2.5 years with various women . 😞 He’d slept with at least three women and had been coming onto countless women he was friends with on Facebook. They were all getting the same story . He was lonely and hard done by and I was a friend with a crush who had a mental health problem . Thexwoman he confessed to he’d been seeing for two months .. he’d been declaring undying love to her and sending her meaningful songs but she hadn’t fekt easy and ended it the day before Valentine’s Day .
The next day he had gone straight to his local where he goes every day and chatted up the bar maid .. just before I came down he had invited her round after her shift and slept with her and was planning on meeting up with her but I’d spoiled his plans by coming down . He’d told her I was a friend .
I confronted him about everything .. he went beserk saying I was paranoid and obsessive .. that I made shit up and that he was just trying to get a social life and now I had ruined it .
I went home and he then coldly and calmly called me up saying he never wanted to see me again . That we weren’t compatible after all . That he couldn’t deal with my constant paranoia and that He was fed up of the barrage of bullshit he constantly got from me . He then blocked me everywhere .
I spent 48 hours reading up on narcs after my friend send me the extract from Lundy Bancroft detailing The Player abuser and it was him .
His best female friend messaged me saying I’d blown it with him with my harrassment and that I was making him I’ll !
Him I’ll ?! I feel like an empty shell right now .
I realise he was just looking for supply all the time and he’s coldly dropped me because he’s found the perfect source . A woman who in his hessagrs he said was very sexy . Works in his local and who will just pop round when he snaps his fingers 😞 As I type he’ll be with her now but I’m trying not to further myself .
However .. I know now that I don’t deserve this . That I deserve better and that rather than crying I need to congratulate myself on finally being free .. but Right now I feel utterly bereft at having lost myself . At allowing this treatment . I don’t even know who I am anymore

OP posts:
Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 00:37

Apologies for the typos

OP posts:
JayneyMc4 · 03/03/2019 00:42

Dear God, what a vile person he is!
Why oh why did you keep taking this crap? Stay away and be glad he's out your life, he's clearly nuts.

EnchantingRaven · 03/03/2019 00:51

Hi OP

I’m sorry you are going through this, what a nightmare Flowers

Firstly and quite clearly you sound like a lovely, caring person who doesn’t need to put up with any of the above. Never mind, all of it. There’s so many red flags which you easily over look (I’ve been in a similar position myself and witnessed my mum go through this too)

I came across this article the other day funnily about ‘tramua bonding’
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/trauma-bonding-explains-why-people-often-stay-in-abusive-relationships-2017-8

I highly recommend you have a read as it can help sum up why you put up with this type of behaviour. People like your partner are just plain evil & will never change, they enjoy playing the victim whilst destroying the person they are with. I think of them as vampires and your last line in your OP “I don’t even know who I am anymore” hits a cord with me as I remember thinking that to myself. He’s worn you down that much and years of walking on egg shells you truely do forgot who you are!

OP - you are worth 10 million of him even if you feel so worthless, he knows you are - that’s why he behaves like this.

Have you got any support in real life? Does anybody close to you know of the issues you are going through? X

EnchantingRaven · 03/03/2019 00:52

Love how my iPhone has spelt trauma!

CinammonPorridge · 03/03/2019 01:14

No decent human alive would say this is not abuse. I wouldn't care for one second more about trying to analyse or prove that.
I would delete and block all trace of him and I would not question your resolve. I would find support from friends and womens groups. I would remember you were there all along, I would give yourself time to come to terms with it.

You have the back up of 100% of MN users.

CinammonPorridge · 03/03/2019 01:16

Come to terms really isn't the right phrase. Be kind to yourself.

Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 01:19

Enchanting Raven .. yes I do have real life support . The problem was that I was definitely trauma bonded to him and constantly thought it was my fault . That I was putting too much pressure on and that I should just “chill”.
The cold way he just ended it to then immediately move onto someone else is crucifying . I sat there this evening knowing that he hadn’t given me another thought and was in bed with his new woman .. it does hurt . Especially when someone can claim that their life is empty without you blah blah then five seconds later you are a piece of shit on their shoe . I should feel sorry for the poor girl really .. she’s about to step into my shoes 😞

OP posts:
RedTartanLass · 03/03/2019 01:25

That all sounds like hell, poor you. I don't have any advise, but just be aware when this new barmaid isn't all he wants her to be, he'll come straight back to you. Be grateful you've escaped and I'm sure more knowledgeable MNetters will be able to help and offer advice.

Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 01:50

@RedTartanLass it’s been a living hell . I know he’s cheated on past girlfriends . I realised that he only got “committed” to ones he thought were going to benefit him (status.. money who knows) but he was still sleeping with women behind their back because I think he’s addicted to the thrill of illicit sex . In his ideal world he wants someone who will give him all the perks of a relationship without asking for anything back and lots of lien style sex . If I hadn’t been useful in other ways I know I’d have been cut out a long time ago . He’s a sex addict who watches porn constantly . He loves the chase of getting a woman into bed . He used to call me and ask me to go on what’s app when he felt the urge . I feel sick now that I degraded myself . He sees some women as up there .. a trophy and theyvare the ones he wants to publicly be with but he would still cheat behind their back . Others he sees as sex objects ..

OP posts:
Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 01:51

CinnamonPorridge I actually blamed myself every time he dropped me 😞

OP posts:
RedTartanLass · 03/03/2019 02:14

If you're the same spacecader from many moons ago, didn't you have a horrendous narcissistic mother? Sorry if I've got confused.

Maybe you need to look at why you chose this guy and see if you can break the cycle. I don't really know what I'm talking about but hopefully a wiser Mnetter will be here soon and point you in the right direction!

Ifonlybatshadhats · 03/03/2019 02:22

op you sound like such a caring, kind and lovely person. I'm so sorry for what you've had to go through. I had a similar relationship but I was in my late teens/ early twenties. I don't want to seem like I think I know more than you, but for me it took a long time to get over and I had to find self belief again (it took years but I hadn't got to know myself by that point yet anyway). I didn't have mumsnet or the likes back then with people being able to confirm I was the nice person and he is the shit (though I realise you already know that he is). Find a way to let this wash over you and focus on your kids; your youngest is 8, right? Be strong and know you're best well away from him.

Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 02:23

Yes that’s me . I’m Space cadet . Yep mums a grade A narc but seems to have mellowed a bit in the last few years . I cut her out for two years and moved four hours away and now have low contact with her . Oh I know that it’s all rooted in my childhood 😞

OP posts:
Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 02:43

Ifonlybatshadhats.. I out so many things to one side and literally did everything in my power to be the orfect girlfriend material so he would label me. I had really long red hair which had taken years to grow. He encouraged me to cut it into a bob and now it won’t gro back 😞 He would tell me he’d never met anyone he connected with like me . We were both very into music and listened to hours of music discussing bands etc and I genuinely fekt aid never have that with anyone again . He sold me the whole soul mate line and I fell for it .. on two occasions he said let’s make a go of it then denied he said it the next day

OP posts:
purplepears · 03/03/2019 02:49

@Spacecadetagain
Bless you. He has used you again and again. And wounded you badly.
Narcissists manipulate and control, that's what fulfills them.
Don't let him pull you back in as I'm pretty sure he will try to at some point.
Can you book some time away, maybe with a friend? Immerse yourself in doing what makes you peaceful and content.
Spoil yourself a little.

Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 02:52

purple pears .. do you think he’s definitely a narc then ? I’m prepared for a potential attempt to hoover me back in . I’ve spent three days immersing myself in YouTube vids . He certainly seems to fit the criteria

OP posts:
Ifonlybatshadhats · 03/03/2019 02:52

I wish I could give you a hug. That man sounds disgraceful. Please be strong and don't EVER go back to him, you'll only get hurt again.

Ifonlybatshadhats · 03/03/2019 02:55

Break all ties including trying to find out what he is. He is bad for you; that's all. Concentrate on what is good for you. X

Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 02:58

I don’t want him now . Aside from the fact I’m going to have to get tested for stis.. No matter how much he’s battered my self esteem I know that this isn’t love .. it’s poison 😞 but it crucified you when you know you were nothing to someone 😞

OP posts:
Spacecadetagain · 03/03/2019 02:59

I blocked him on what’s app and he’s blocked me back . He is blocked on every social media platform we were connected on . I’ve deleted every pic of him . His number . His texts and I’ve blocked him from calling

OP posts:
purplepears · 03/03/2019 03:00

@Spacecadetagain
It doesn't really matter if he's a narcissist or not. His behavior sounds very narcissistic but being a narcissist doesn't excuse anything.
He's just simply an awful man. Abusing your kind and generous heart. Repeatedly.
He's not going to change his pattern. Ever. He will always make you - or any relationship - miserable and about him. He likes the power that you give him. That feeds his soul in the same way that happiness feeds yours.
And that's not normal or right.

purplepears · 03/03/2019 03:04

Delighted to hear you've blocked contact.
Plan the days ahead with thugs that make you happy. Eat well.

purplepears · 03/03/2019 03:05

...*
not thugs!! things!!

Ifonlybatshadhats · 03/03/2019 03:05

What purplepears said. op you sound like you know what you're doing and I hope you stick to it. You honestly sound like a lovely person that has unfortunately stumbled upon an awful excuse for a human being.

irekd · 03/03/2019 03:50

😕sending virtual love