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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

Can you improve a relationship where it feels as if you have checkwd out?

21 replies

Feelingnotatallok · 09/02/2022 17:49

History. Married young at uni.
When dc born he looked at porn as I was not intrested in sex at all . I have experienced abuse as a child and to my eyes it looked like explotation of another human. He promised not to do it again when he saw how upset i was but he did ; once he says.
He left ,lets say ,used tissues in his pockets ( yes i checked after i found the first) and in bins. He said he was frustrated .
He said it was due to the fact we were not connected and he missed it and wanted to make himself feel good.

As he broke his promise, it took a while to forgive this , but ,over the years I have felt very angry and suspect have withdrawn. We did have councelling, the effects of it were positive at the time.

We sleep in seprate rooms. He is universally regarded às a nice man.
Whilst he says he would do anything to make the relationship better , we have one day out a week together for eg, i feel like i have never recovered or respected him again.

I am prone to prefering my own company in the house.When we go out we have fun tho.
Its like we get on but as friends.

He says he would like to re kindle our sex life. He says this should be via connecting in other ways first.
I just find it hard to think things will ever change because he seems now too ' shy' to be sexual with me .
And
We spend so little time together, than time will run out.

He is in his 60s and its always in the future we can do so and so.... but soon the future will run out if it carries on like this.
I must admit I feel like I expect him to make more effort as I see him as avoidant ( easier to watch tv alone than talk etc) and if he wants to improve things, he and I will. It seems all talk and no action .

I must admit I start by suggesting we do stuff ,but then expect him to respond in kind , and he often does not .. so now Ianticiate that pattern it is easier to not try ro change as feel it will simply revert back.
Any ideas re21 way forward ?

OP posts:
Blushinggerbil · 09/02/2022 18:27

It sounds like maybe you were never compatible?

How old are you?

Ginistheway · 09/02/2022 18:32

A couple of years younger.

Ginistheway · 09/02/2022 18:33

Just name changed as embarrassed .

Blushinggerbil · 09/02/2022 18:47

Don’t be embarrassed op. Can you retrace steps to when you feel things were last ok?

phizog · 09/02/2022 23:10

You don't like having sex with him, prefer your own company when at home, sleep in separate room...

Why exactly are you with him? You're spent over 40 years in this relationship that never seems to have had any real connection/love/compatibility. That's half your life. Do you really want to spend the last decades of life like this? Why? Just leave for heavens sake.

Crimeismymiddlename · 10/02/2022 09:35

Oh wow, this is really sad as it seems you were never compatible in the first place.
You chose not to have a sexual relationship with him, you should have left him if porn was the hard boundary for you as asking someone to have a sexless marriage and not help themselves ether is really unfair.
You dont even seem to like him, it’s time to leave.

TheFoundation · 10/02/2022 10:36

Why are you trying to make it work? Do you think you should be with him?

A relationship is something that builds between 2 people because they like being together more than they like being apart. It's not something you start, and then are obliged to continue, even if it makes you feel rubbish.

He betrayed you, and you don't trust him. You don't want him. Why are you trying to have a relationship with him?

Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 11:51

Because when met him he was fab . A rock to my turbukent past.
He is solid, steady, kind, introverted, quiet. He steadies me.
I.am.outgoing , lots of.life, creative.
I bring him energy.
Deep down i kmow he is a good man.
He is also.damaged as he had a difficult childhood which lead to him withdrawimg emotionally. This is evident as he sometimes syddenly flares up when his suppression runs out.
I think that we have stopped hearing each other.
I am.asking , knowing that he is a good guy, amd people say we are suited as they see his suppression as laid back cf to.my hypeer, as positive opposites.
His nice exterior,( and interior) apears to be based, in part, on the hiden aspect of his personality. Ie he is nice but there is a lot of anger amd hurt underneath. Eg he gets really resentful of people from comfortable backgrounds as he did not have that himself.
We have fun when we go out.
In the home we are both aware of an tread on eggshell dynamic. We just dont know what to do about it.
Yes you are right. I donlt like him at the mo. However, i also kmow ther is a grumpy but nice guy umder the layers.

As for leaving. He is in his 60 s with me just behind.
Realitically it would.mean the two.of us living in rough areas in order to live seperstely and i kmow it is difficult relationship but i think that possibily healing if it was poss wd be better .
It is scary to think of living in a flat in a rough area. This would be the reality and that has to be faced rather than just think leave.

OP posts:
Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 11:54

Blushinggerbil when you ask were we ever compatble. In our values .. absolutely.
In our personalities .. we are opposites.
He is steady, introverted, quiet.
I am outgoing, lots of mates .et c.
I.find it v hard that i have not got a clue what he thinks or feels as he ďoes not say . Its not just a male thing.

OP posts:
Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 11:58

Blushinggerbil i last felt safe 23 years ago before had the kids and the porn
.we had councelling and it helped at rhe time.
Its like he is nice but 8 cant see it ?
I feel.betrayed whilst understanding and having some compassion for, why he did it.
Before then we had a great life and i really loved him

We wd travel, garden and do all sorts.
When the kids came, and the pressure they can put yiu under , combined with two people trying their best with bad backgrounds , thats when the troubles began

OP posts:
Skilovingmama · 10/02/2022 12:00

Realistically it doesn’t sound like it’s going to improve. You’re not magically going to become compatible again and it sounds like you’ve not had any marriage to speak of for a long long time. However, you might decide that that’s okay, for the sake of financial security or company. I think you need to explain that to him too though so that you are both on the same page: ie you can live as friends but nothing else is going to happen. Do you want to date other people, OP? Does your DH? I think the most important thing is that you are on the same page.

Porn can be horrible but it’s pretty common for people to look at it and if you’re in a sexless marriage, you can’t blame him for wanking off now and then.

Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 12:01

TheFoundation thanks. To be honest i pref my own company and have been like that all.my life. ! I.admit that as i get older there is comfort having someone around.
I had a very diffi ult chikdhood and I learnt that it was best to look after y self from a young age.

OP posts:
Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 12:05

Skilovingmama i dont mind the wank aspect.
I.mind porn . What i dont undertand is he says swx is for love. Hoever when he didnt get sex .. then how am i repalced that way ie via porn which is not love.
He says that he does not use it now. He wants sex .ive told him we cd try n eork on it. He says the way is to build our relatiinship first. But my suspicion he is too afraid for intimancy now.

OP posts:
Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 12:08

Re other people. To be honest i wd love to meet a man who I loved amd adored. However, i totallt lack the confidence to do that ( i had a wonder b f before i met dh. But his looks and sex at first led me to.dh)as i dont think many good guys around.
Dh wd not want me to date anyone.
I rhink i wd be jealous if hw did bur have not idea why and may not actually be .

OP posts:
Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 12:10

Skilovingmama he often refers to breaking our negative cycle but it does not swwm to happen.
Tired but scared to live in a rough area and have no idea what its like living alone after the initial relief ! What if its a mistake.

OP posts:
TheFoundation · 10/02/2022 12:14

I.admit that as i get older there is comfort having someone around

But he's not comforting to have around is he. He's making you feel unsettled enough that you're posting on a forum about how to move forward with the relationship.

There's nothing up with finding comfort in a relationship, but to do that, it needs to be with someone you find comforting!

Avarua · 10/02/2022 12:17

If you're in your sixties and companionable then the sex aspect is likely to be overrated. But if you make an effort to spend time together doing fun things (getting drunk?) maybe something will spark again.

It seems odd to hang on to the porn thing. It was 20 years ago; forgive and move on.

Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 12:29

Avarua we have fun outside the house.
We go to gigs, walks, pubs, put for meals, have freinds round. When in the house he goes one way i the other. For eg for weeks he has said lets watch a prog together. It happen once then not again.( I waited for him to follow it up as i was unsure if he actually wantes to. ) that is typical pattern .
Eg he said he wd buy some new clothes for when we go out as he wanted to.look.nice. this was 20 years ago. He didnt do it. It is somerhing not important to him but to me . What i wd rather have is honestly rather than a false promise.ie clothes are not important to me.
To say that.rather than yes i will go and buy some clothes i will make an effort. But not do it.as.now.i assume ,based on experince it will be talk not action .

OP posts:
Feelingnotatallok · 10/02/2022 12:49

It has just occured to.me that he does not make the effort in some areas such as his apperance as he may either
Resent the fact he does not have sex
Or
He lacks condidence now
Or borh
He difficulty is because he does not communicate perhaps be aware that he may feel such things the real stuff does not get adressed ? He is very imward and it is v hard getting things out of him.

OP posts:
TheAgeofChaos · 10/02/2022 17:58

I can relate to many aspects of your post op, including the porn viewing and experiencing childhood abuse. I hadn't connected the porn and exploitation to the abuse I experienced until I read your post and it has been like a light bulb moment. I think things were going a bit wrong for us before the porn issue and cannot lay the blame totally here, but it was certainly the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

I live the way you describe too. I have young dc (and are younger than you) so keep them very much the focus. I totally understand the sharing of assets and all that would bring. Also, my husband doesn't communicate his feelings either. So much resonates.

Not sure what to suggest op. I'm plodding on but my emotional needs are very much not being met whilst like you I find some comfort in having somebody 'there' (but not there). My husband also offers a lot of practical support, valuable since dc are relatively young and not much other support in real life.

Essentially, I am just carrying on with developing my own life - interests/hobbies/focus on dc etc. I think having to keep myself safe as a child and occupied has done a full circle and I am okay living in my own world (to a certain extent then can feel incredibly sad at times). At the moment, I don't have much of a social life so not vulnerable to other attention (something one might crave if you've experienced neglect/abuse) but I can see this might be a factor in any change going forward (not actively looking for this).

Watching your thread with interest op, sorry, no further suggestions but thank you for starting it.

Feelingnotatallok · 11/02/2022 12:27

TheAgeofChaos am.so very glad that the post has helped you in some way and hope that it will help you.going forward. So much of what you wrote resonates with me regarding the keeping.myself safe which perhaps isolated myself from my dh unknowingly but qas something I had to learn to survive a long time ago but perhaps no longer serves me .
I will read your message again later when I have more time ro reflect... but In meantime , I thank you hugley .

OP posts:
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