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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

Marriage Issues - Unsolvable?

48 replies

PinkDye · 01/08/2020 19:50

Hello

Been using this site for reading purposes for a long time but today I’m posting with the hope of some advice from anybody who’s been through what I’m currently going through.

My DH is a misery guts, 5 out of 7 days he’s moody. The best way to describe my current state is that I’m walking on eggshells on a daily basis. I constantly have that feeling of “when’s he gonna kick off”... Not IF he’s going to kick off. It’s as if it’s certain it’s going to happen, just a matter of when and what will it be over today.

I have self worth, I know when I’m not being treated well and I’m the type of person who likes to deal with it and not let it slide. I believe we have a certain control on how we let others treat us, I don’t wish to be a doormat to have his feet wiped on and that’s how I’ve been feeling.

No matter what I do I’m at a loss, I do my bit financially, I look after the kids and make sure everyone is fed and happy. I think I’m a pretty decent wife to be honest. I pull my weight in all departments! However, I feel like I’m being taken for a ride. My DH is never happy, always has something to say about everything. He can be very ungrateful and harsh, not very friendly/warm.

We also have different parenting styles (2 kids). I’m more of a laid back parent and he’s all about rules and regulations. I don’t mind if the kids are watching a bit too much tele some days, after all, schools are closed and with the corona situation soft plays are closed and there’s only so much I can take them out. DH doesn’t do anything with the kids such as day trips or parks etc, it’s very rare he’ll take them somewhere. So why moan if they are happily keeping themselves entertained? He does help with them at home though.

Other points to mention are, I don’t feel respected. His language has been getting worse, he won’t think twice before swearing, whereas it takes me a while to get to a place of using swears. I would need to be very pissed off to swear.

He loses his cool over things like, misplaced items, something not being done the way he would do it or how he likes it. It’s like he has to approve everything. It’s becoming hard to live day to day and side by side with a critic.

Have I tried talking to him about this all? Most definitely, that’s all I’ve been trying to do for months and months. Sometimes he’s in full blown denial about it and other times he tells me he’s felling depressed and doesn’t know why he’s down. Assured me he would seek help and speak to the GP but then flipped and said there’s “nothing wrong with me”.

Advise me ladies and gents.. it’s hard to help someone who doesn’t help themselves, what now...

OP posts:
Iwantalonglie · 01/08/2020 21:25

Tell him he's making your home an unhappy one...And if he doesn't stop, soon there won't be a place for him in it any longer.

Ask him what he thinks gives him the right to make the rest of you miserable. Tell him you won't let him ruin your DC's childhood.

Then set a time limit for change. Decide how much more of your life you are prepared to give to someone who is making you all unhappy. Don't let things drift on like this.

PinkDye · 01/08/2020 21:37

Stopwining- I’ve spoken with him a lot about it. He’s well aware about what points I’m struggling with. Is it his personality or is this changeable, it’s hard to say. It’s his way or the highway that’s how I can sum it up. Because my way apparently isn’t the right way

OP posts:
AttilaTheMeerkat · 01/08/2020 22:23

re your comment:-

"Is it his personality or is this changeable, it’s hard to say".

Its not you pink, its him. This is who he is and this is hard wired within him. Its his personality. He is not for changing here not by you or infact anyone else. What he does to you works for him and he does this also because he can.

sassenach84 · 01/08/2020 22:40

It also sounds like he suffers from some level of anxiety which may also require treatment of some kind

PinkDye · 01/08/2020 23:10

Sassenach - he’s admitted many times about feeling low/down/depressed and this is where I worry... am I abandoning him if he’s got some mental health struggles or is this just him

OP posts:
PinkDye · 01/08/2020 23:30

Attila - no last marriage was not abusive at all. Not even a fraction of arguments compared to this marriage... if your wondering why that ended it’s because I fell out of love I guess.

Maybe fell far too quickly second time around and realised whoa there’s a lot of problems here once we’d tied the knot. I can understand the odd tantrum, we all have mood swings now and again. When it becomes a day to day thing and is no longer occasional it becomes debilitating

OP posts:
PinkDye · 01/08/2020 23:32

Iwantalonglie - I’ve already thrown him out twice in one year because of the lack of change in his behaviour.

Took him back on the basis of false promises. At the time I really felt he’ll change this time or that time but to no avail I guess

OP posts:
SoulofanAggron · 02/08/2020 00:20

Do you want to stay with this person?

You don't deserve to have to live this way. Flowers

PinkDye · 02/08/2020 00:26

Soul - I want to know we done everything we could to improve/fix this before throwing the towel in

OP posts:
ThickFast · 02/08/2020 06:31

When you say ‘we’ve done everything we can to fix it’, the first thing that comes to mind is that you seem to be trying a lot. Him, not at all. What is he actually doing to try to change? Even you asking him to leave twice isn’t enough. So it seems like you’re not going to get much further.

SteelyPanther · 02/08/2020 07:47

My hubby didn’t admit to having MH problems.
He insisted it was physical but every test came back negative. Eventually he had to accept it.
You can’t make him get help but you can give him an ultimatum.
It’s not fair on you and the kids to have this as your life. I look back now and wonder if I should have asked my hubby to leave, as the state he got himself in no child should have to see.
If he won’t get help, only you can decide if this is the life for you and your children.
I no longer believe that marriage is for life, I believe that doing your very best for your children is what matters.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 02/08/2020 08:17

PinkDye

re your comment:-
"I want to know we done everything we could to improve/fix this before throwing the towel in"

You cannot fix and or improve an abusive marriage particularly by yourself and your H likes this set up just as it is. Depression is an excuse used by such men to enable them to continue acting abusively. He likely does not think his behaviour towards you is actually abusive.

There is no WE here at all; its you wanting to fix this (are you codependent in relationships, I ask as such people often want to "fix" their spouse) and he and he wants absolute power and control over you. The towel has already been thrown in here on this marriage; its over because of the abuse he metes out. Your children are seeing and have seen more than enough already in their lives. Ending this marriage should bring you no shame on your part.

c24680 · 02/08/2020 08:29

My friend was in this situation, she stayed with me for a few days and when she returned home nothing changed. A few months past by and she decided to leave him and she's so happy now, yes she misses him and yes she wishes they could of fixed it but her happiness mattered more and he wasn't willing to change despite knowing it was him who was always in a mood! They have a toddler together so have to coparent and he's still moody even though he's seeing someone else now.

I've been in this situation as well, covid really didn't help my marriage but something changed and we realised how much we do actually enjoy each others company and stopped getting at each other.

Sorry no advice just saying how it was for my friend.

sophmum31 · 02/08/2020 09:48

Hi, my situation is so similar to yours I could’ve written this post myself! My husband is exactly the same. He has recently moved out (it was his decision but he was expecting me to beg him to stay) and our Day to day home life is so much happier, when he isn’t around the kids and I are relaxed and actually have fun.

He is very much struggling with the loss of control though, he has a security camera on our house and he just pops back and let’s himself in whenever he likes (especially if he sees me going somewhere). Now everything is turned round and it is me breaking up the family and taking his kids and his life away from him.

It only been a month and it has been a very tough month for us but the laughter is returning to our lives again. Not sure if this helps but you are not alone!

emilybrontescorsett · 02/08/2020 09:57

Are the kids his? If not then it's not up To him to dictate what happens, of course he can express his opinion but he should bite his tongue.

stopthepigeon · 02/08/2020 11:33

Sorry to hear this OP, sounds tough to live with. Flowers

I too could have written this. The kids and I spent years on egg shells living with ExH who had an explosive temper and bad mood (like you, often around lost items and everyday minor set-backs). ExH refused to participate in therapy or seek help, and I eventually ended the marriage. It was the hardest thing, but also so much easier than I had feared.

OP, life is transformed for the better when you are not living in the shadow of someone else's temper. It feel like being on permanent holiday. But to also warn you, the kids and I have each been left with mental health issues as a consequence of the years spent living under conditions of stress. I didn't appreciate the toll this was taking, until the damage had been done.

I suspect undiagnosed PTSD played a role in my exH's behaviour, but he wasn't prepared to seek help. If your DH lacks the motivation or capacity to fundamentally change, then your options are about prioritising the health and wellbeing of yourself and the children.

Can you begin to think about what this might look like; how life could be made to work for you as a unit of three? Perhaps talk to a decent counsellor with relevant experience on your own about your choices? Women's Aid is a good suggestion. Stay safe.

Pinkdye · 03/08/2020 00:23

I’m posting an update to let you know I plucked up the courage and DH left today, after another bitter row... thanks for the advice everyone

OP posts:
Opentooffers · 03/08/2020 00:43

Well done OP, it's hard to end things, but you have tried more than enough, he's had plenty of warnings from you. Stay strong, don't let him back a third time - 3strkes and you're out approach is more than fair.

ThickFast · 03/08/2020 07:07

How are you now? Where did he go?

Pinkdye · 03/08/2020 08:58

I’m good, feel lighter within myself. He doesn’t know many people in this town so not sure where he went

OP posts:
ThickFast · 04/08/2020 15:39

That’s great you feel better.

SteelyPanther · 05/08/2020 07:42

Well done, it will be so much easier living without the threat of a kick-off.
I’m sure both you and the kids will find it easier.
Wishing you the strength to carry on through to independence.

WellThatIsThatThen · 05/08/2020 07:54

I’m 20 years down the line from where you are now and in the process of getting ready to leave. It doesn’t change, you may get periods of things being a bit better which keeps you there but the cycle continues.

20 years on and my kids are watching the same marriage my parents had. History repeated.

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