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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

Help!

74 replies

Fuckmyliferightnow · 11/06/2019 17:52

I just told my partner I don't trust him and don't know if I love him.
He totally lost his shit, got angry, cried, sobbed, just kept talking to me and telling me how I'm making it all up (the cheating) I'm still not 100%, no proof, but a strong gut feeling.
He loves his family, that's all he cares about (us).
I feel so guilty, I just want this feeling to stop. How do I know if I'm doing the right thing.
He said he has to hate me to get through this for now we have to be civil until I realise I've made a mistake and tell him I want to try again.
I have been trying to avoid him lately because we argued and some horrible things were said (he started calling me a miserable cunt).
Help help. I've made a big mistake haven't I?

OP posts:
Fuckmyliferightnow · 12/06/2019 11:33

Women's Aid just doesn't feel right to me.

OP posts:
GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 12/06/2019 11:42

He is gaslighting you.

Every post you've made makes him sound worse.

You can only tolerate him when you're medicated? You said yourself that tells you all you need to know. For the sake of your mental health, you need to split.

I am sure your depression will be much better without him around dragging you down.

Whatisthisfuckery · 12/06/2019 13:08

OP he’s fucking with your head. You never know which him is going to walk through the door. He’s keeping you confused and off balance. He wants you to doubt yourself. He’s not doing it by accident, you do understand that don’t you?

Why not WA? He’s subjecting you to emotional abuse. WA deal with domestic abuse. It’s not all black eyes and broken bones, emotional and psychological damage is just as serious.

You’re worrying about where to go, money, childcare, WA will advise you on things like that.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 12/06/2019 13:35

I know you're right, it's so hard.
I'm scared of hurting him and Dc.

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AttilaTheMeerkat · 12/06/2019 13:54

He has made you feel this way; spaghetti head is par for the course with such abusive men.

Womens Aid is indeed right for you; you and in turn your children are being abused by this man.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 12/06/2019 13:56

He has again showed you the nice part of the nice/nasty cycle of abuse but that cycle is a continuous one. He will revert to being nasty again soon enough; this is exactly how abusive men operate.

Whatisthisfuckery · 12/06/2019 14:54

OP I know your scared, it is scary. I too left an abusive man. I did it on my own, without outside help, and it was so hard. I wish I’d had someone to point me in the right direction at that time because I would have done things differently.

I know the thought of hurting your partner will cripple your resolve. As bloody evil as my H was I felt exactly the same. He keeps hurting you though, and he won’t stop because he thinks nothing of hurting you in order to get what he wants.By not acting you’re sacrificing your own happiness and mental health, and for what? So he can have the continued comfort of you being there, doing things for him, having sex with him, and most of all being his emotional punching bag? That’s no life for you, and it’s no kind of example for your DC to grow up with.You need to think about them too, because when they see their mum in a state, and she’s not at her best for them, or when they see their father treating you like a beat up old toy to be picked up and cuddled then thrown down and kicked about this will be their normal. This is what they’ll think relationships look like. It’s not just the now, it’s tomorrow, and ten years down the track and for the rest of your’s and their lives. The damage that is done now will take a lot of time and work to unpick, because things always get worse quicker than they get better, but things can get better, and it’s better to have a hard time making things better than have a hard time watching things get worse.

Please, just give WA a call. Even if you decide it’s not a goer you’ll at least have opened the door a crack. Please be honest with them. They will try to assist you but they can only do that if they know the whole picture.

Try to gather some strength. The first step is the hardest but once you put one foot in front of the other you’ll feel less paralysed. You’re not alone and there is help out there for you.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 12/06/2019 15:03

Attila and whatis thank you I need to hear that.

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Fuckmyliferightnow · 13/06/2019 09:23

Update:
Dp sobbing and begging last night, we talked, he knows I don't love him and acknowledges his shit behaviour, yet it's still all about him and his feelings/happiness.
I am going to ride this out a bit longer and make a better plan to leave when I've settled in my job. I can save and be better prepared.
I'm gutted but I have to stay longer.
He doesn't see his behaviour as abusive, he says he's been shit to me though Hmm
Now he's love bombing with love msgs, he begged me to love him again because he has nothing without me and wants to die.

OP posts:
Fuckmyliferightnow · 13/06/2019 09:29

I've just had to give in, I'm so sad.

OP posts:
Fuckmyliferightnow · 13/06/2019 09:30

Sad for him and sad for the life I wanted, but have to put on hold.
I've never cried so much.

OP posts:
Whatisthisfuckery · 13/06/2019 11:46

He’s not going to die without you sweetheart, he’s really not. He’s crying for himself, not for you and not for the hurt he’s caused you. Mine cried and begged and insisted he’d die without me. He did the textbook straight up threatening to kill himself. He didn’t die, he didn’t kill himself and he’s very much still alive.

Like you have recognised, he’s only bothered about his own feelings. Do you think he’d be bothered if his treatment of you made you suicidal? You’ve said you can only cope with him while medicated so I’m guessing you’ve been there or close. Did he care about your feelings enough then to change his behaviour? Well we know the answer to that, as you’ve felt bad enough to post on here.

So don’t you see he’s done it again. He’s treated you like shit, then when you‘ve Stood up to him he’s dismissed belittled and blamed you, and now he’s all sad face because he wants to emotionally blackmail you and hoover you back in for another cycle of abuse. And he’s done such a fine job that again you feel the need to throw yourself on the pire of his feelings and watch your own life and mental health burn because he’s Convinced you that he’s more important.

Please, ring WA.Like I said in my last post, even if you can’t act now you can get some support. Please please put your toe in that door, otherwise it’ll go round and round and you’ll feel more and more broken and powerless each time, and he’ll be able to do exactly what he pleases to you because he knows he’s made you too small and weak to push back.

Don’t look back at your life and wonder why the hell you let yourself put up with it. You don’t get those years back, and you’ll spend more years still picking up the pieces. He doesn’t deserve to take your life from you, and he certainly doesn’t deserve to damage your DC, which is what will definitely happen if you can’t find the resolve to get you and them out of there. You have a choice putting up with this man, they do not.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 13/06/2019 19:36

I'm going to ring them, need to pluck the courage.
He is seriously laying it on thick about changing and being better.
He's worried I'm going to meet someone else and won't stop hugging me. I'm feeling overwhelmed by it all.

OP posts:
Whatisthisfuckery · 14/06/2019 10:25

Yes, again he’s worried about himself. I’m sure the more you think about it the more you’ll notice. Pattern recognition is a very powerful thing. Men like this rely on you only seeing the surface, and think you can be carried away by displays of emotion without understanding just where the emotion comes from.

Please do try to call WA, plus have a look for your local domestic abuse service. Do it in a private browser so he can’t go snooping. You might have to hold a bit before you’re answered, or try a few times, they’re very busy, but you really do sound like you need the support. Once you start to notice things it’ll become increasingly difficult for you to ignore them, and you need an outlet and someone to guide you.

Is there anyone you can talk to irl? Can you confide in your mum or a friend.The more people you can talk to and the more people who know, the more you’ll feel strong enough to act. Isolation is a very dangerous thing, that’s why these men try so hard to isolate you at the first opportunity. Once the cat is out the bag it’s very hard to put back in, so they want to keep things as secret as possible.

Also it’s a good idea to get in first with people. despite the gushing emotions and declarations of love and how they’ll die without you, which they most certainly won’t, they won’t think twice about badmouthing you to anyone who will listen if you step out of line. People are very good at believing the first person who speaks and it can be quite difficult to convince them otherwise, so you might be well advised to be the first to speak. I’m not saying they won’t believe you if he gets in first, they might tell him to eff off, but it’s worth baring in mind. What you’ll probably find is that if you tell your mum, or a friend, and be honest, they’ve been suspecting it all along. People aren’t stupid, they do pick up on subtle cues, and it’s a very clever man indeed who can truly mask their abusive ways all the time. The mismatch between what they imagine people think of them and what people actually think of them can be quite stark. The amount of people who have said they always saw the bad side of my ex even when I couldn’t is quite surprising, because he made me believe in his complete superiority.

Anyway I’m rambling, but please take what I and others have said on board. I’ve been where you are and I know how hard it is, and I’m not gonna lie, it’s really hard, but you can do it, and every day you’ll be so glad and so proud and so amazed with yourself that you did. Once you make that first difficult step and you let it out you’ll find that some of the fear is replaced by determination. Right now you might feel that you’ve nothing to be determined or positive about, but once you shift your gears and put your foot on the accelerator you’ll feel differently, I promise. It won’t all be smooth sailing by any means, but you can cope with that. If you can cope with all his shit then you can cope with this.

Good luck, and keep checking in to tell us how you’re doing. Speaking only for myself I would like to know.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 14/06/2019 10:46

@Whatisthisfuckery thank you.

You mentioned the cycle which I never noticed, I noticed his good patches and felt relieved (but still watching myself).
But I never saw the cycles in the bigger picture.
When I told him I didn't love him he seemed to breakdown in front of me, erratic crying, rubbing his head, begging, then saying "I don't care, fuck you" storming out, then coming back in saying sorry, please don't leave and it went on for ages. Until I caved and agreed to at least try.
I then got promises and affection like never before. Now he won't stop stroking me and kissing me and saying I love you, being smothered.
I can see it before my eyes, the cycle.
Is this all a part of the same cycle? Am I being harsh?
I still feel dead inside!

OP posts:
Fuckmyliferightnow · 14/06/2019 10:50

Oh and the promises he didn't cheat, he will not admit defeat. Despite not wanting penetrative sex for 7 weeks (weird after being told once a week is not enough).
I know what I observed and yet he's absolutely, categorically sure he didn't do anything, physically or emotionally.
Confused

OP posts:
Whatisthisfuckery · 14/06/2019 11:57

Yes, it’s all part of the script. Don’t forget that for him your relationship is something he controls. He talks to you like shit, slams about and probably goes out and shags other women because he dictates the terms, and he’s decided that him doing these things are part of the terms. So, when you said you’d had enough he thinks shit, this isn’t in the terms I’ve set, my control isn’t working. Tears, I’m so sad that my control is slipping. Anger, you’re overstepping the boundaries I’ve put in place for you. Then the initial shock fades and he’s back onto regaining control and reasserting his dominance so he turns on the waterworks, promises you the earth and makes a fuss of you. Once he feels he’s got that control back you’ll be back to being sworn at, slamming about and probably him cheating again.

As you’ve already noted, he’s only concerned with his own feelings. He doesn’t even register that you have needs and feelings too, So you need to take the fact that they don’t even enter his head into consideration when you’re figuring out what’s going on with him. All of his behaviour should be viewed through the lens of how he feels, what he wants and how he thinks his needs will be met by it. Once you separate what he’s actually doing and why he’s doing it from what you’d like him to be thinking and doing it’s hard to come to any conclusion other than what it is, which is he’s trying anything he can to get you back under his control. Imagine your relationship is a computer, well it’s gone wrong for him, so he’s bashing all the keys to until he finds the one that makes it work again.

Read the Lundi Bancroft book, it’s really accessible and you’ll see what’s happening straight away.

Whatisthisfuckery · 14/06/2019 12:13

And the reason he denies cheating is because 1, he’s in charge so what he does has nothing to do with you; 2, if he admits it it’ll make him look bad and undermine his position of superiority; 3, you might up and leave, which means no clean clothes, no clean house, no meals cooked for him and no sex when he demands it; and 4, nobody to control so nobody to feel superior to.

If you look at it from his mindset then he has a lot to lose. Remember, your needs and feelings don’t matter to him.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 14/06/2019 13:42

I've known this for a while, but was too scared to admit it, he never cared.

I am reading the book.
The first time I read it, it was like wow! This was written for me (not all of it) then I read it again when my anxiety was high (and back to making excuses) it didn't seem to ring as true. The denial phase setting back in.
But I'm listening to Youtube videos about covert narcissism and re reading the book to keep reminding myself.

Also I forget all the bad stuff really easily, when he says "when, give me an example" I just can't. Only the most recent thing.

OP posts:
Whatisthisfuckery · 14/06/2019 15:04

Can I suggest you write things down? Not for his sake, no matter what you do or say you’ll always be in the wrong according to him, but for your own sanity. So when he’s being all sweetness and light and hoovering you back in and you start wondering if you really did imagine it, you can look back at and go yeah, he did call me a cunt/tell me I’m ugly/accuse me of x.

It’s always easier to convince yourself it wasn’t really that bad and this time it’ll be different when you’ve nothing else to pin your hopes on.It never does get better though, or not for long anyway. For all the tears and amateur dramatics, the promises don’t last long, if at all.

In hindsight I find it ironic that all the times my ex accused me of being a hysterical drama queen, nothing ever topped his histrionics when he thought I might walk out the door. He had quite the meltdown when I finally did. He was rather hysterical, and it gave me great pleasure in telling him so. Only after I’d got out though, if I’d done it while I was still stuck there my life would’ve been made hell. He’d got to the threatening me with kitchen knives stage by then.

Don’t get into a you did this you did that argument with him though whatever you do. Everything will be turned around, history books rewritten and you’ll end up not knowing which way is up. Don’t ever expect him to admit, concede or compromise, because he won’t. The most you’ll ever hope for is an impasse, and then you’ll just be waiting for the next onslaught. Have a look at the grey rock technique. It takes a lot of work but it does work, at least to a certain degree. Basically it’s just making yourself as boring and unresponsibve as possible. I think your H, like my ex, thrive on the emotional energy we give them. It doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative, they need it like a candle needs oxygen. If you can limit any emotional leakage when interacting with him it might help.

Oh and if you do write things down, which I think is a good idea, make sure you put it well away from where he might find it.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 14/06/2019 16:01

Will he get worse this time round?

I have looked at grey rock, I will try that but he can play me like a violin so, I'll need to try really hard.

I have to sit through a meal with him tonight. See I feel like a bitch already for saying this, god I'm fucked!

I will update when stuff happens so I can use it as a log.

Thank you for replying. You have helped me loads Smile

OP posts:
DarkestBeforeTheDawn4 · 15/06/2019 08:30

I can't think of stuff when he asks either FuckmyLife. I freeze or if I do think of an example he minimises it, he doesn't remember it happening that way, so obviously it didn't 🙄. He's so good at it I struggle to maintain belief in the way I feel things

Whatisthisfuckery · 15/06/2019 14:22

Don’t engage. Whatever you say, no matter how obvious or factual, he’ll minimise, make it your fault or just out right lie about it. There’s no point even getting into it with him, it’s a complete non-starter.

He’s not going to suddenly turn round and say, ‘yeah, I admit to doing x y and z You’re absolutely right, and I intend to change by doing a b and c by such and such a date to prove to you that I’m serious.’ It’s not going to happen. No matter how often you try or how hard you wish, it ain’t gonna go down like that. Only when you accept that fact and stop pinning your hopes on some magical reversal in his behaviour will you be able to start to remove yourself from it.

I’m sorry it’s a harsh truth, but it is the truth, and until you can understand that, you’re going to get churned time and time again by his manipulation and empty words.

Fuckmyliferightnow · 15/06/2019 15:17

@DarkestBeforeTheDawn4
It's frustrating isn't it.

OP posts:
Fuckmyliferightnow · 15/06/2019 15:18

@Whatisthisfuckery he has made promises, bit I still see it by how he talks about others.

It is harsh but I know it's right.

OP posts:
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