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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

Read his journal, what do I do?

117 replies

Whaddyaknow2 · 15/04/2021 12:02

DH diagnosed with depression in 2019, on Antidepressants and had some CBT (pre-COVID, completely gone since March 2020), got into using meditation, feeling stronger, more confident, all in all that aspect is going well.

But our relationship has suffered immensely. We weren’t in a good place before his diagnosis (2 small kids, full time jobs, neglected ourselves as a couple for a few years) but since the CBT and counseling he’s come to blame me a lot for his depression, and generally everything. As and when it suits him though. Sometimes it’s ‘all my fault’ and sometimes it’s from his childhood, depending on his mood. His counsellor also told him that I was emotionally abusive and he leant on that a lot afterwards (blaming me). Then 2020 hit and we’ve generally been in the shitter. He has managed to keep up his meditation which has included keeping a journal on his iPad which is meant to be about focusing on positives and all that.

He’s said he only thinks about me in a negative way now, we argue a lot and I think there’s very little trust left. But he changes his mind depending on his mood and after a particularly crap day I ended up reading his journal because I wanted to see where his head actually was.

His last entry yesterday was about how horrible I am and If we broke up I’d have no chance of finding someone now because I’m fat and flabby but that some new starts have joined his team and he’s Facebook stalked 2 of them and they are young and hot and one in particular is ‘just his type, slim with big boobs’ and if he gets the chance he might try ‘making a play’.

As you can imagine this has thrown me completely. I wish I hadn’t read it but now that I have... what do I do? Is this just some kind of fantasy thing he’s written down? Should I tell him I read it and get into that world of losing any shred of trust that might be there? He knows I know his password and he leaves the iPad out so it’s not like he’s being particularly careful in keeping it secret. I know I shouldn’t have broken that trust that I wouldn’t read it but I’m pretty much at a loss of how to understand him anymore.

We had a heart to heart last night (before he wrote the journal) and It came to light that because I’ve ‘taken the lead’ in our relationship and life (for which he calls me a control freak) because he’s always been reserved and introverted and not had a whole lot of ‘life experience’ (like practical stuff, we met in uni but he’d had very a very hands on mother who did everything for him) that he now feels stronger and more confident and wants to be ‘in charge’ of more (but couldn’t tell me what those things would be), but he’s angry at me that I didn’t just know that’s what he wanted and why I’ve been not letting him. Anyway I came out of that conversation with a better understanding of his frustrations and I thought he had a better understanding of how I saw things and why the relationship is how it is in terms of division of responsibility. But then he went and wrote that. I feel completely betrayed and I’m wondering if this is likely to be something that turns into a reality...? This is going to sound really cliche but I never thought he would even consider cheating on me and ruining our family. My own father did that and he knows how much it has fucked me up-for him to even contemplate doing that to his own kids makes me feel sick Sad

What should I do? I don’t want to walk away but I deserve better than to be in a loveless relationship where I’m at fear of him following his dick and screwing up our life. Is he likely to follow through with this??

OP posts:
DrinkFeckArseBrick · 15/04/2021 20:39

OP he said he only thinks of you negatively. There is no trust. He doesnt like the way you look. He thinks you are causing all his issues. He is angry with you. That you abuse him. It doesnt matter if he cheats, this relationship is already completely over. Even if he isnt like that 'all the time's if he thinks any of that, some of the time, its over. I'm sorry

BlueDahlia69 · 15/04/2021 20:45

Im kinda suspicious about this 'journal' being so conveniently found OP.

Did he want you to find it, I believe so.

He is a C *NT

Leave as soon as you can, or kick him out, either way, you do not deserve this. 🌸

Parkerwhereareyou · 15/04/2021 21:00

@autumnboys
*Honestly, I don’t think I could find my way back from that.

Nope. I couldn’t either.

TurquoiseDragon · 15/04/2021 21:11

@randomer

I wouldn't be chucking in a marriage on the say so of some bored strangers on Mumsnet.

Have you ever thought nasty things about your partner, or written nasty things? I know I have.
Have you ever fancied somebody else? I know I have.

It is not down to a registered therapist to say a spouse is controlling. I wonder as to this persons professional credentials.

I've been in an abusive relationship, and this bloke sounds a lot like my ex. So I'd say LTB based on OP's posts because the dynamic sounds so similar.

This isn't a case of just writing a few nasty things, this is a bloke who's journal pretty much mirrors what he's been saying to OP. He has contempt for her, and a relationship is pretty much dead when it gets to that point.

And I doubt his therapist actually said the things he's claimed they did. More likely he's just using his own words and only claiming the therapist said them to make it seem like other people thinks OP is terrible.

MrsMaizel · 15/04/2021 21:12

He sounds like my ex - blaming me for every unhappiness in his life whereas it was actually him who was a miserable cheating git! Often they don't have the guts to end it and make life as miserable as possible. I had all this shit " we're not not in the same team" blah blah when I was bending over backwards for him. They actually do not notice as they are so immersed in their own selfish thoughts . I never thought I would get a divorce but once you've done it you realise how common it actually is and no one blinks an eye. As I noticed the other day on the news 3 of the Queen's 4 children have divorced - the odds are not great .

Changethatname81 · 15/04/2021 21:15

Even if he never intends to cheat, I couldn't be with someone who would write any of that. Your husband should be a source of love and support. I don't know whether there is any chance of coming back from this revelation or the other problems in your relationship.

ScottChegg · 15/04/2021 21:19

He sounds a bit like my ex. Nothing was ever his fault, I held him back and never supported him, I was overbearing and took charge. Yes I took charge, because he was a useless tosser with no drive to do anything. Unsurprisingly, being unencumbered by me following our divorce didn't mean he became a dynamic success! Shocker.

Oh he also told me I was fat and I would end up a lonely bitter old woman because nobody in their right mind would want me. I met my now dh 18 months after my divorce and we're still happy twenty years on. He, on the other hand, was single for about 16 years!

Divorcing him was the best thing I ever did.

Izzy24 · 15/04/2021 21:23

When you’re in a relationship with someone who behaves like a self centred adolescent it is almost impossible not to take the lead.

Imagine what it could be like to be in a relationship with another adult.

ScottChegg · 15/04/2021 21:33

@Izzy24

When you’re in a relationship with someone who behaves like a self centred adolescent it is almost impossible not to take the lead.

Imagine what it could be like to be in a relationship with another adult.

Quite. The only alternative is to let chaos reign and everything fall apart around you!
DachshundDerby · 15/04/2021 21:41

OP I could have written your post. DH also depressed. Blames me. Says his therapist agrees with him. Is very angry with me for his life.

In periods when not depressed does not blame me and will admit that he has a problem.

Living with a person who blames you and genuinely thinks his life would be better with someone else somewhere else is intolerable.

First of all do not believe what comes out of his mouth. It is not you. I have lived with this and my DH has said that at times he feels so wretched that he will just kick out at me. If he feels wretched then I must be too for staying with him. Not only that but he doesn’t see me as a separate person...it’s like I am him so when he is hankering after a different relationship / woman he is running away from himself.

Get counselling and support for you. Put him aside. Focus on you. Look after yourself first and foremost. It’s all you can do.

Sending you Flowers xx

Blueberrymuffin40 · 15/04/2021 21:57

If it was me I'd be off.Some are so desperate for it to work they'll stay, I find that extremely sad. Waste of a life. He's made it clear what he thinks of you. You are worth more but no one can tell you what to do.

Sparky888 · 15/04/2021 22:01

Life is too short to stay in that, with that. It’s draining living with someone who blames you for everything. Maybe he will prefer a life then alone where he can take charge. It’s just a lazy cop out from him. You’re worth better.

Bluntness100 · 15/04/2021 22:06

Did he want you to read it? Do you think he wrote it, hoping you’d read it, and did it to hurt you?

IdblowJonSnow · 15/04/2021 22:09

Oh OP. Get rid. This is dead in the water. You can do much better.
Flowers

GreenTeaPingPong · 15/04/2021 22:14

At a guess, he's projecting a lot of his anger and resentment towards his mother onto you, as a strong female in his life.

I think, before you even got to the bit about the journal, it's obvious that he has contempt for you, and when that's the case, a relationship is dead. You would be happier without him and his negativity. I know it's hard when you have young children, but this is no way to live.

Hotcuppatea · 15/04/2021 22:19

Re: the therapist, she is relying on his account of the situation (and we can see from his journal how he views your marriage). Furthermore, you are hearing only his account of what they've said which has been through the same filter. He'll only hear what he wants to.

Reading things like that about yourself is incredibly painful. I don't think I'd be able to not voice how I feel, but that's just me.

SunnySideDownBriefly · 15/04/2021 22:30

He sounds horrendous. I can't see how you can move forward - can you? He sounds incredibly self-absorbed and maybe you have both outgrown each other. I'd set him free and look ahead to a future where you won't have to live with his misplaced resentment. It sounds as though you've been his crutch for years and now you're going to be his punchbag. Time to toughen up and think about how that could work for you.

BlueDahlia69 · 15/04/2021 22:32

@randomer

I wouldn't be chucking in a marriage on the say so of some bored strangers on Mumsnet.

Have you ever thought nasty things about your partner, or written nasty things? I know I have.
Have you ever fancied somebody else? I know I have.

It is not down to a registered therapist to say a spouse is controlling. I wonder as to this persons professional credentials.

Did you ignore everything OP wrote and found in DH's journal?

SelkieIntegrated · 15/04/2021 22:39

he sounds horrible

Dery · 15/04/2021 22:40

“Surely it’s far more of a ‘failure’ to STAY in a marriage that makes you miserable? Divorce doesn’t have to be acrimonious, and your children will be happier if you are happier. You say financially you will be fine, so maybe book yourself a good therapist (and a lawyer if only to clarify your position if you decide to divorce), and talk things through with a neutral third party?”

This.

TheThingsWeAdmitOnMN · 15/04/2021 22:42

@Whaddyaknow2

I've been in a similar position to you & read/heard things I wished I hadn't, BUT you know what, it's not the reading/hearing that's the problem, it's that he's saying/thinking it.

Don't wish you didn't know, because it doesn't take away from it being his he feels & what he thinks.

I would put GOOD money on his counsellor not having said anything like that!!

Realistically, you cannot now turn a blind eye to the fact that he's NIT taking any responsibility for his state of mind/life. He's just blaming you. He won't change.

I understand you didn't want to divorce your children's father, but surely you didn't want this shit show either.

Whether he gets off with one of the 'new starts' or not, is actually irrelevant. He's called you some horrible things, he's comparing the mother of his children to some 'young things' and now finding you lacking. That's not the thoughts or actions of a man who loves you.

I'm sorry this is where you are at, but sticking your head in the sand won't change it. It's better to put the band aid iff, tell him to fuck iff and move on wuth your life The sooner you do that, the sooner you'll be be back on your feet 💐

DrSbaitso · 15/04/2021 22:54

This idea of "failure"...so often we don't even know what a failure or a success is.

If I knew someone who had spent their life miserable with someone in an unhappy loveless marriage, I wouldn't see that as a success.

Oblahdeeoblahdoe · 15/04/2021 23:02

Can you imagine living like this for the next 40 years? You are responsible for your happiness, not his

Onthedunes · 15/04/2021 23:04

I don't think he's got depression.

I think he thinks an awful lot of himself.

What an utter bastard to physically write those things down and know you had easy access to them.

He sounds sadistic to me.
Definitely has a cruel streak.
I wouldn't stay around for anymore games.

Nonmaquillee · 15/04/2021 23:07

It all sounds really miserable for you and your children. This isn't a way to live.

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