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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

Emotionally abusive?

3 replies

Steveayit · 01/07/2019 18:46

Hi,
I am a male & my partner female. We have been together just over 12 months.

At the very start of our relationship, I took viagra to help with my nerves & worries about whether I could please her & a fear of not being able to 'perform'.

I did not tell my partner that I took this at first.
Eventually telling her about 3 months in, after an issue where I did fail to perform when phasing out using the viagra.

This led to my partner who has generalised anxiety to think that my use of viagra was down to both a lack of desire for her & also maybe because I was having sex with other women.

Over the course of time these issues have gotten worse for us.

Whenever we are out of the house, my partner now thinks that I am always looking at other women. She is so sure that this is happening , that I have had to question whether I am doing it subconsciously & not realising myself.
It has not gotten to the point where actually both of us feel very uncomfortable going out with the other, her because she know's I will be 'eyeing up' other women, me because I am scared of there being women about who I think she may think I will look at.

Despite these worries continuing, I decided to stop using the viagra full stop in January, in order to take that part of the problem off the table & personally that actually helped me , as I then felt confident enough to not need it at all anyway.

However in February, my partner found the leftover box of viagra, in my bag where I had left it & not used.
This led to her believing that I had lied about it & was hiding it in her house. Which to a point was true, as after deciding to not take it any longer, I had just left it in that bag & forgotten about it.

Bt she feels that I intentionally hid it from her, possibly for using with other women & from there the mistrust has only grew.

We have been on dates where she has left in the middle of a meal ,because she has seen me staring at another woman.
Despite me being very self conscious of her thinking that I would do that & consciously trying hard to look at nothing around us.
She will be convinced & still is, that I am 'glegging' as she calls it at other women.

If I try question that I might not have actually been looking , I am told I am gaslighting her & being emotionally abusive by playing on her worries.

To the point now , where I have to wonder if I am actually doing this without knowing, even though I am being super self conscious of my actions whenever we are out.

We very recently have now moved in together.
When we moved, I had packed the viagra still in one of my bags from my house. Doing that when she wasn't with me, I didn't know what to do with them, as I had said I would not take them anymore back in January.
I didn't want to throw them, in case at some point she would want to know where they were & if I couldn't show her, she may think I had used them elsewhere. So I packed them & forgot about them.

Then a week or so after the move, our issues were as bad as ever & she was very uphappy with me one morning.
I was going to give her the bag to use that day & remembered the the viagra was still in there.
Instead of telling her about it, worried about how she would react to it. I moved it to another bag.
Over the coming days , these problems kept getting worse & we were both very on edge.
Eventually we had one day where we didn't argue soo much & I was aware she wanted sex.
I felt a fear that I hadn't had for a while, that if I failed , she would say that was evidence I didnt love her & that would be the end f the relationship. So I took a viagra.

I did not tell her I had took it, as
A, it helped calm my nerves about potential issues
& B, if she thought the sex was with viagra, she would think it was not legitimate & be further proof to her that I don't love her.

However she could tell that I had used it.
After finding out that she had been going through all my things to try to find it , I told that I had took it & that I had moved it the few days before also.

This has completely broke her, as it is now evidence that I have consistently lied to her throughout our relationship & have been emotionally abusive.

I don't feel that I have.
I personally don't think I have been doing all the things she has accused me of. However , It is true , that I did not tell her about the viagra.

She now feels that she can never trust me again, whilst I feel it is that lack of trust that has led me to feel nervous enough to need to use viagra.

There is a lot of love between us, but don't now know if there is a way back.

Does anyone else have experience of these issues or advice?

OP posts:
sunnydays78 · 01/07/2019 18:55

This is a very toxic relationship. You need to call it a day. She obviously has some major insecurities and but the sound of it it’s making you anxious too. This isn’t love. Take care of yourself

BlueMoon1103 · 01/07/2019 18:56

The fact that you’re questioning if you are the abuser kind of tells me you’re not! Abusers generally convince themselves they’re not badly behaved people/partners. If anything it’s the other way round, your partner is putting you on edge with her accusations and that is not okay. Her own issues don’t mean she gets to make you scared to look around in public in case she has a go at you. She says you’re gaslighting her, isn’t she doing it to you by telling you you’re looking at other women when you’re not? I’d say as you’re questioning yourself!

However you should not have lied about the viagra. I’d tell her you were getting rid of it and do this in front of her as proof and then stick to your word of not using it anymore. She should have to trust you more, ie, not having a go at you when you go out together and then the viagra hopefully won’t be necessary.

You need to have a conversation with her I think to get this cleared up although to be honest she sounds high maintenance! I’m a woman and that’s my genuine opinion. If you can’t address the issues I don’t think you should stay together, sorry!

Steveayit · 01/07/2019 20:09

Thank you for your replies.

While I admit it is near impossible for me to write out the scenarios without displaying some personal bias , it has felt important to me to try to seek some non partisan bias by posting on here.

So it is much appreciated.
Thanks.

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