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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

Mental Health and relationship breakdown

11 replies

user1487755366 · 17/03/2021 15:07

DH and I have had a very difficult few months. I don’t want to go into the details (but also don’t want to drip feed) -it feels like we have had a lot of the crap parts of life thrown at us. DH has severe OCD which has flared up recently. We also have young children. He’s said some very nasty things to me of late in stressful situations and they have very hurt me. He has been seeing a therapist and recently started medication. He repeatedly misses his dose. He also does very little around the house. I’m recovering from a horrendous birth and sepsis and things are hard. Very hard. It’s hard to be kind and patient with him as he clearly needs support but I also feel like he doesn’t want things to improve because he doesn’t see that there is much of an issue. He’ll be difficult, moody, angry and then come to bed and say how much he loves me. It upsets me. I tried to gently and kindly raise the concerns I had and how I was finding it hard and he became very angry and upset. He told me I was irrational and unfair and that he’d no longer be sharing anything with me. In the past he has had serious health investigations and kept these a secret until afterwards making things incredibly upsetting. I begged him to share things with me and he said he would but as of yesterday he is refusing. I feel like he wants me to put up and shut up. It’s hard to separate what is him and what is his illness. I have depression and I know how hard mental health can be but he doesn’t see the impact his lack of engagement with treatment is having on me and our children. They are young now but he has been stern with them as tiny babies and also blamed me for their crying (this was when they were a few weeks old). It’s incredibly challenging. What do I do? I love him but I can’t live like this.

OP posts:
NoPrisoners · 17/03/2021 15:13

From your description, this is a form of hell.
What do you feel in your heart you should do?

user1487755366 · 17/03/2021 15:18

@NoPrisoners

From your description, this is a form of hell. What do you feel in your heart you should do?
Thank you for seeing that to. It’s hard to convey how difficult life is for us at the moment. Deep down I think he regrets having children. He is trying and I can see that but I also feel like he is only paying lip service to his treatment. Today when I mentioned the medication he said that I wasn’t to mention it or pester him. He refused to take it. I think we need some kind of mediator or counselling because we are seeing this from completely different perspectives. I don’t think he will agree though.
OP posts:
user1487755366 · 17/03/2021 16:46

I feel totally helpless and trapped. We just see this from completely different perspectives

OP posts:
NoPrisoners · 17/03/2021 17:01

Bumping for you so others can comment more helpfully.

Eckhart · 17/03/2021 17:51

@user1487755366

I feel totally helpless and trapped. We just see this from completely different perspectives
What is his perspective?
Eckhart · 17/03/2021 17:57

It’s hard to be kind and patient with him as he clearly needs support

He is not being kind and patient with you when you need support, is he.

user1487755366 · 17/03/2021 18:01

His perspective is that there isn’t an issue, he is showering me with love and trying hard and should be left to get better at his own pace. I don’t think he has any insight into how this makes me feel

OP posts:
Eckhart · 17/03/2021 18:06

Do you tell him when he does it? 'That was very hurtful', 'It hurts me when you speak to me in that tone', do you say it at the time?

It sounds like he's simply neither listening to nor giving a crap about your feelings, and trying to just sweep them under the carpet and reset you to 'happy' whenever he feels.

If his psychological problems are causing him to do this, or if he's just being horrid; no matter. It's not sustainable for you, emotionally.

He wouldn't agree to mediation, would he? Given that he denies there's a problem?

AttilaTheMeerkat · 18/03/2021 06:14

I would consider seeking legal advice re separation and divorce. The only acceptable level of abuse in a relationship is none

NeedToKnow101 · 18/03/2021 06:36

I think he is using his mental health problems as an excuse to abuse you. He's abusing you, and sounds like he's abusing your kids, 'stern with them as babies?!!' This is not OK.

I would be making plans to separate, and soon. But safely. If you decide to end the relationship, do not tell him your plans; he is likely to be aggressive towards you.

(My sibling is like this - uses 'stress' as an excuse for being incredibly aggressive and intimidating. I think he has OCD. I have had to go very low contact. He's a scary bully but paints himself as a misunderstood victim. I couldn't stay with a man like this),

Bobcatbob · 18/03/2021 06:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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