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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

DH has no friends and following me round the house

288 replies

DotDashDottyDashy · 11/10/2021 16:23

My husband dropped his friends years ago and he has nothing to do with his family. He now works at home since the pandemic and his employer has made this a permanent thing. I already worked at home because I freelance. He goes to a book club once a month, but apart from that I am literally never alone in the house. He doesn't count the book-club members as friends and he will never stay for a drink after they've discussed the book as the rest of them do. I have lots of friends and interests that take me out of the house, but sometimes I'd just like some time in the house on my own without hearing his ever-there presence - the TV, his stomping and sighing.

If I close a door behind me (e.g. if I'm reading in the snug or in the bath, I close the door so I can't hear the TV that he has on all the time, or if I'm in my office I keep the door closed so I can't hear him on his work calls), he will always, without fail, find a reason to come into the room, and then leave the door open on his way back out. If I ask him to close the door behind him, he always frowns and sighs very loudly and exaggeratedly. I find this so unpleasant that I've stopped asking him to close the door and I wait until he's gone, then quietly close it myself. He wants to watch TV every night, whereas I don't - sometimes I want to read or do some drawing or something, but if I say this, he always asks why can't I do it in the same room as him (the reason is because the TV is distracting, but also I just want some time on my own as well sometimes) or he'll pull a 'jokey' sulky pouty face and say sarcastically 'oh that's nice'. Or, he'll give it half an hour, then come and join me in whatever room I'm in, sit next to me, and scroll through his phone.

He cares very deeply about furniture, decor and clothes. He watches what I do in the house and corrects things I do. For example, if I put the box of teabags on the kitchen counter, he'll lift it up to put a protective mat under it. Or he'll pretend he's admiring the knife I'm using and come to look at it (when in reality I know it's because he wants to make sure none of the veg I'm chopping have fallen off the chopping board onto the worktop). If he thinks one of us might have damaged something, he goes nuts, even if he can't see any damage with his naked eye, so he'll do things like get a torch to inspect it. I never do things to his standards - I apparently do gardening wrong, cleaning wrong, bedmaking wrong, washing wrong.

He doesn't like us using things in case we damage them, so the kitchen worktops are covered in lots of protective mats (so we can hardly see any of the worktop now) and the settees are covered in protective throws. And he gets really tense when we have visitors in case they damage something.

If I try discussing anything with him, he either denies whatever I say (even stupid things that are obviously true - it's his default position to just deny anything I say. I could point out his grey hair and he'd deny it's grey), or he gets really defensive, or more often than not he just walks away and refuses to discuss anything with me, going completely silent on me. He literally never gets riled or worked up. He likes to ignore me when I ask something of him, and if I repeat myself, he'll just say really dismissively and calmly, "yeah I heard you", but then he won't comment any further. He also makes things up about me. For example, he was sorting out our important documents and I asked him to leave mine alone and I would sort them myself, and he told me that I had lost my driving licence once so I shouldn't do the sorting and should let him do it. I know for a fact that I've never lost my driving licence, but he was so adamant that I started believing him. He could tell me I'm spelling my name wrong and he'd be so believable that I'd doubt how my own name is spelt.

I'm 20 years into this marriage, and now I'm perimenopausal, and suddenly I'm just drained by it. We're currently not talking to each other at all after he was snappy with me on Saturday all day but wouldn't tell me what the issue was. He does that a lot - snapping and frowning at me, but if I ask him what's wrong he says "nothing" every single time. I really fucking hate the silent treatment - I think it's a pathetic game and really manipulative, but I can't be arsed trying to engage with him anymore, so I'm just not bothering. I know I'm in the wrong not talking to him, but I'm exhausted by him and actually it's quite nice not having to talk to him and listen to him go on about how his work colleagues have wronged him this week.

OP posts:
SpaceOp · 11/10/2021 17:27

@AttilaTheMeerkat

The only acceptable level of abuse in a relationship is NONE.

Women do not have to be or set themselves up as rehab centres for badly raised men.

And can I add to this that if a man does have a mental health issue that his partner is willing to support him on, she cannot do ALL the work ie by doing whatever he needs all the time to the detriment of her own needs. He needs to step up and try to work on some strategies of his own so that she can see actual progress and change.
wewereliars · 11/10/2021 17:30

God OP, do you really want another 20 years of this? He will drive you insane if you do not get out. Abusive, controlling , arse.

exexpat · 11/10/2021 17:31

Do you really want to live like this for the rest of your life? I would have run away screaming by now.

You sound like the kind of person who could start afresh in a new area and make new friends, find activities and get on with life. If you stay with him, you will slowly be suffocated in the life you have now.

You're not going to change him, so change what you can, which is where and how you live.

Jacopo · 11/10/2021 17:33

Well he is just awful. Do leave. You will find it immensely liberating.

DotDashDottyDashy · 11/10/2021 17:34

Wow so many replies, thank you everyone. Sorry for the delay, I was walking the dogs. I'll go through them now and answer some questions.

OP posts:
SpittinKitten · 11/10/2021 17:35

He's only going to get worse. Focus on your happiness and the rest of your life.

Bluetrews25 · 11/10/2021 17:35

Sounds like you are doing a prison sentence there.
Time for parole?
Surely living in a cardboard box in the middle of the road would be better than this?

ChargingBuck · 11/10/2021 17:36

You can't stay with this man simply because you believe you could not afford a house in the same area without him. That's fear talking, not reality.

Do you own your house together? - if so, & you have done so for most of the relationship, there is surely equity by now? Can you see yourself taking half of that, & buying a small flat locally - would that freedom not be worth losing some square footage?

If you don't own, then you only need the price of your next rental deposit, & as you are working, can surely afford a little flat on your own?

ChargingBuck · 11/10/2021 17:38

@DotDashDottyDashy

Wow so many replies, thank you everyone. Sorry for the delay, I was walking the dogs. I'll go through them now and answer some questions.
Oh I am SO pleased you have dogs. Dogs understand mutual respect, & giving enough space while staying optimally connected.

Keep the dogs. Get rid of the nuisance ... Flowers xx

Zilla1 · 11/10/2021 17:39

'Not a dick 100% of the time' could be a slogan t-shirt for his next birthday though possibly you would be the only other person to see it unless he wears it to his book club.

LavenderYellow · 11/10/2021 17:44

I feel your pain! DH is also wfh after years of long hours away. I'm part time out of the house. Never alone at home any more, and it's driving me round the bend! TV or radio is always on.
He's not as bad in the other, obsessive ways you describe.
I'd be considering a serious conversation and even leaving if he doesn't stop with that controlling behaviour.

Roxan · 11/10/2021 17:47

Bloody hell. He sounds a little like my ex (except he didn’t care if things were a mess). But the clingyness and silent treatment is very familiar. Ex wouldn’t leave the house without me, either. We were together 7yrs.

It’s no good living your life feeling oppressed. Don’t put up with being suffocated. I realised that the idea of staying with my ex forever filled me with horror - how do you feel about the future?

DotDashDottyDashy · 11/10/2021 17:48

What do you need the most from thread: do you want empathy or solutions for what your life could be like?

I wanted to know how much other people would put up with I guess.

When I said he's not a dick all the time and said he's supportive etc., that was in answer to someone who asked if I love him. He does have good points, or I wouldn't have stayed for 20 years. Also, the behaviour has crept up stealthily. When he had friends and saw his family, things were miles better. He was a lot more relaxed and fun. The fussiness got worse over the years, as did everything else, but really gradually. He's really quite a different person to who he was even 10 years ago. And of course, lockdown and him now working at home has made things a million times worse.

OP posts:
youvegottenminuteslynn · 11/10/2021 17:50

Never jealous, never tries to stop me doing anything, always encouraging me to follow interests and so on.

But he's jealous of whatever you want to do at home that doesn't include him.

He does try to stop you doing things - things like having time to yourself, things like being in a room with the door shut, things like doing stuff unsupervised.

He only wants you to enjoy your interests on his terms, in the same room as him, for his security and comfort over his.

Mate, he sounds suffocating, intrusive, controlling and selfish.

And absolutely exhausting. I couldn't choose to spend the rest of my life with someone who huffed when I wanted to chill out without them in a different room. Best case scenario it's pathetic and needy, worst case scenario it's controlling and manipulative.

In fact it's manipulative regardless. This man has conditioned you to the point that when you want to be behind a closed door, you wait for him to leave then 'quietly' close it yourself. That is madness, can you see how he's conditioned you to behave in such an unnaturally cautious and pandering way?!

DotDashDottyDashy · 11/10/2021 17:51

Has it ever occurred to you that he’s emotionally abusive ?

Yes

OP posts:
WhatMattersMost · 11/10/2021 17:51

We love our abusers. That's why we don't leave. We have been taught to love abuse. And so it becomes entirely our norm.

But this is abuse, no matter how attentive or sweet he is. Abuse takes many forms, and it's not always conscious (which is just as bad).

I would not put up with this for one moment. Even the thought of it puts me on edge. He has a problem, and unfortunately to him you're the solution. But you don't have to be. Go - live your life. You may need to make compromises, but I promise you - I really promise you - you will not regret it.

PearLime · 11/10/2021 17:51

Fucking hell he needs to get a life and stop following you around.

It's like having a stalker in your own home.

MarleneDietrichsSmile · 11/10/2021 17:53

He sounds like the least attractive man on the planet

DotDashDottyDashy · 11/10/2021 17:54

How can he not be jealous or stop you doing anything? He stops you making a cup of tea by yourself and also just being in a room by yourself? Are you aware that you have been gaslighted?

I meant that he's never done anything except encourage me to pursue my interests and hobbies, and see my friends. So it's not like he ever tries to stop me going out or anything or ever gives me a hard time about it. But I get your point.

OP posts:
Femnisaurus · 11/10/2021 17:58

watching my parents age (now both long dead) I noticed that they were both becoming more like a distilled version of their core self, and other attributes began to strip away. As if the things they had struggled with, for my mum being sociable, for my dad being Forceful, were being let go. My mum's core self was very self contained and she really didn't want company. My dad's core self was very gentle and laid back.

If your DH is manifesting these traits now then I do think they will only get stronger as he ages. Is this what you want? My now exH still displays the odd sign of the man I fell in love with nearly 40 yrs ago but his core personality is now mainly the arrogant arse I only glimpsed then!

I'm now over a decade post divorce - less well off financially, smaller house, less disposable income, but my life is my own, and it's good.

BabsFiddle · 11/10/2021 17:59

I really think you need to go and get some counselling on your own to open up perspectives on this. I know it is really difficult to think outside the immediate situation when you never have time for yourself. Yes, you may end up leaving him but you need the mental strength to do it. Take time for yourself, do go out and see your friends etc.. You have my utmost sympathy.

AmandaHoldensLips · 11/10/2021 18:00

Christ on a bike. Sounds like you've been institutionalised to his awful (and deeply passive-aggressive) behaviour. I'd throw in the towel, get divorced, and start planning the rest of your life on your own terms.

Tell him to get his own life and leave you alone. No wonder he doesn't have any friends.

OneLifeThreeGuvnors · 11/10/2021 18:03

Reading your original post the first thing I thought was that he has mental health problems. It sounds like his life is very narrow and this has been exacerbated by working from home and not having any outside activities to speak of. It's no wonder that everything at home takes on massive significance, if that's all he has to focus on.

This is the problem that needs to be solved, rather than just leaving him. You may realise the relationship has run its course, and decide to split - fair enough, . But he needs some mental health help, whatever you decide.

TatianaBis · 11/10/2021 18:04

To answer your question, I wouldn’t put up with it but do you want to?

Would an office pod in the garden help or do you just want to get away from him for good?

TatianaBis · 11/10/2021 18:08

@OneLifeThreeGuvnors

Reading your original post the first thing I thought was that he has mental health problems. It sounds like his life is very narrow and this has been exacerbated by working from home and not having any outside activities to speak of. It's no wonder that everything at home takes on massive significance, if that's all he has to focus on.

This is the problem that needs to be solved, rather than just leaving him. You may realise the relationship has run its course, and decide to split - fair enough, . But he needs some mental health help, whatever you decide.

I agree, but men of that type, and of that age bracket are not massively open to therapy. Even if he agreed to it, he may not want to change, he may want to continue his OCD control of kitchen implements.

So really it comes down to whether OP can cope with him as he is.

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