Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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

Advice please

14 replies

realrue · 17/03/2022 11:53

Have been on Mumsnet for a while but more to just read rather than post, but I really need some advice.

I've been with my boyfriend for about 7 months now, our relationship started quite intensely as we had an accident the second time we'd ever slept together and I fell pregnant and had an abortion. He was very supportive the whole time and came with me to appointments and the situation brought us quite close quite quickly. Fast forward I became his girlfriend and we've had a great relationship for the most part.

Over the past couple of months I've found myself feeling quite insecure, I feel as though I've put on some relationship weight and just not feeling good about myself. My partner has always told me I always look good and gives me compliments etc. However, I think as I was feeling bad about myself it highlighted some things that he was doing that made me feel worse - he followed a lot of insta models and onlyfans girls and when I asked him why he followed them he would respond with "because she's fit" or whatever, and would tell me it's his social media and he should be free to do what he wants with it. Which I do understand, I can't control him, but when I ask him to take my feelings into consideration when he follows and likes stuff like that, he just gets defensive and annoyed at me. His reactions to my feelings and requests have made my insecurities spiral and I started to feel paranoid when he'd be texting, wondering who he's talking to, going through who he follows on Instagram, and just developing overall trust issues.

I have had therapy in the past as I do have a lot of issues from my childhood that this all stems from in terms of the way my dad treated my mum etc. He and I have had conversations about my insecure behaviour and I have since stopped some of the things I was doing (looking at his followers etc) but we had an argument on Tuesday night about it all and yesterday morning he broke up with me, saying that he thinks I need to resolve these issues before I can be in a relationship.

I'd just like to clarify that I never constantly text him when he's out or away with friends, I'd never stop him from doing anything he wanted to do, I don't bombard him with calls/messages wondering where he is or what he's doing or anything like that. Sometimes I just get in my head and say or do stupid things and it's something I am working on.

We have a holiday booked in 3 weeks time and he hasn't said anything about that, so it's inevitable that we will need to speak in the near future to sort out what's going to happen with that. I did at first try to talk him out of the breakup, but in the end I have respected his decision but asked if we could talk about it face to face. He said he doesn't want to talk right now and just needs some space.

Is it possible for me to be in a healthy relationship whilst working through these issues that I am aware of and am already tackling? I really saw a future with him and I'm kicking myself for fucking it up, he's not perfect by all means, but I do know that I've pushed him away with my insecurities.

Any advice would be really appreciated x

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 17/03/2022 12:10

You haven't pushed him away with your insecurities. We all have, and our allowed to have, insecurities. A compatible partner will respect your insecurities, and behave in a way that reassures you. It's that simple. You don't need to 'fix' yourself. The key is to recognise that you're not special or 'faulty' in having your issues, and that a healthy relationship will support you in these, rather create problems with you being you.

Your insecurities are signposts, not faults. They will 'flare up' in situations where you're not comfortable, and they are signposts to leave. They are your gut feeling. Follow them. Spend time with people you feel secure with, and ditch the rest. You don't have to judge whether you're right or wrong. There's no such thing as right or wrong with feelings. After all, if you have an insecurity about someone doing something they're not actually doing it, being told you're wrong doesn't take away the feeling, does it, so you still feel crap.

realrue · 17/03/2022 12:19

@Watchkeys

You haven't pushed him away with your insecurities. We all have, and our allowed to have, insecurities. A compatible partner will respect your insecurities, and behave in a way that reassures you. It's that simple. You don't need to 'fix' yourself. The key is to recognise that you're not special or 'faulty' in having your issues, and that a healthy relationship will support you in these, rather create problems with you being you.

Your insecurities are signposts, not faults. They will 'flare up' in situations where you're not comfortable, and they are signposts to leave. They are your gut feeling. Follow them. Spend time with people you feel secure with, and ditch the rest. You don't have to judge whether you're right or wrong. There's no such thing as right or wrong with feelings. After all, if you have an insecurity about someone doing something they're not actually doing it, being told you're wrong doesn't take away the feeling, does it, so you still feel crap.

Thank you, this has really helped. He has really made me feel like somethings wrong with me and that I need to change. I understand that my insecure behaviour can be annoying and overbearing when I'm asking who he's talking to and things like that, but I feel that he doesn't do much to reassure me. He just thinks I'm being stupid.

Maybe you're right and it's my gut telling me that he isn't the one. I've been upset over the breakup as I really thought we would be together for a long time. But I guess if he doesn't love me at my worst then he doesn't deserve me at my best.

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 17/03/2022 12:20

Really what's happened is that he has pushed you away with his responses to your feelings.

Give yourself some agency. He doesn't get to tell you stuff like this:

he thinks I need to resolve these issues before I can be in a relationship

He needs you to resolve those issues before you can be in relationship with him, but he's not the rule maker about you and how you feel/behave. He can think what he likes. And if you don't like what he thinks, he can get lost.

Watchkeys · 17/03/2022 12:26

He has really made me feel like somethings wrong with me and that I need to change

You're brilliant. End of. If anybody doesn't fundamentally agree with that, bin them. Life: sorted. At the very least, you will be single, and with a person who thinks you're the bees knees (ie, you), and that's a nice place to be.

I got told something very useful: 'The only thing wrong with you is that you think something's wrong with you.' Once you take that option off the table, it brings all criticism into question, and anybody making it.

The other very useful thing I realised for myself was that the only thing wrong with me was my partner. I was a perfectly nice, respectful, caring, respected person, except in my relationship. Nobody else was telling me I had problems, nobody else was triggering me to act weird.

It's very good to realise that if there are people you're the person you want to be when you're with them, that means you actually have the option to choose to only spend time with people like that. It's very liberating. You don't have to change yourself, just the company you keep.

MrMrsJones · 17/03/2022 12:32

Many women wouldn't be happy with the misogynist view that men can like socal media posts, "because she fit" what a load of bollocks.

It makes you feel uncomfortable because he is looking at women as pieces of meat, their for his enjoyment and you should just put up and shut up.

Raise the bar and find someone else who appreciates you.

realrue · 17/03/2022 12:34

Thank you @Watchkeys this has really helped, naturally I find that I'm quite a people pleaser so I'm always doing things/changing things to suit the other persons needs. I find it hard to see bad in others but see it so easily in myself. At the start, he came across as very caring and patient and used to tell me that my feelings are valid - but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I do feel abandoned which is what I feared in the first place, but maybe it's for the best. I need to start living my life for me.

OP posts:
realrue · 17/03/2022 12:36

@MrMrsJones exactly! he would never see it this way though. he thinks it's totally normal to ogle over women in underwear and bikinis even though he's in a committed relationship and thinks that I shouldn't have an issue with it.

OP posts:
MrMrsJones · 17/03/2022 12:41

Bet it doesn't work the other way round though.

realrue · 17/03/2022 12:49

that's the thing, I wouldn't know as I don't do stuff like that. he has said things in the past like "I have never and will never look through who you follow and what you like on social media because I don't care" - but I'm sure it would be a different story in reality.

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 17/03/2022 13:42

I wouldn't know as I don't do stuff like that

Find people who do stuff like you do stuff :)

LifeExperience · 17/03/2022 15:04

He's not worthy of you. Decent men in a relationship don't ogle other women on social media and then tell their girlfriend that she's the problem.

Aquamarine1029 · 17/03/2022 15:09

He's not the man for you, it's as simple as that. Move on.

girlmom21 · 17/03/2022 15:24

If he can't respect your feelings and is dismissive of you you're not compatible.

realrue · 17/03/2022 17:44

Thanks everyone, I think I new the truth deep down that we obviously aren't compatible if he's views on these things are so different to mine. Just finding it very hard to come to terms with :(

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page