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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

I've just realised my 'poor' mental health is because of DH

86 replies

faultyshowers · 30/10/2022 19:50

Just as title really. It's his grumpy moods, mainly. Along with his refusal to pull his weight in the house and with the DCs. Feel like I've got a lead weight on my shoulders. My father was the same when I was growing up.

Anyone else come to the same realisation?

OP posts:
Gioia1 · 10/11/2022 13:59

@faultyshowers am truly sorry. The DARVO, projection, gaslighting etc eventually gets to you. They will never accept accountability for their actions. I just separated from my exh and you should have seen how he attacked me in front of the judge. Thankfully I didn’t utter a bad word about him in front of the judge. I’m 36 weeks pregnant btw and caring for a toddler still I chose to leave after 5 years because I thought I was in control of my life in reality he controlled my life.
@lightand i think we may have the same religious background as I totally agree with your post. In cases of abuse of any form and one feels in danger separating is allowed in the bible.

Gioia1 · 10/11/2022 14:10

I really wish my time with newborn and small babies had been more joyful @greenisblack but honestly, it was just an unrelieved slog. I remember begging DP to take over a night feed or two as I was so bloody shattered and he just wouldn't. Makes me sad to even think about it really, we'd both wanted DC soooo much and then he was incredibly lazy and made it much harder than it had to be.

Same thing here. When my daughter was about 3weeks old and cluster feeding I remember one night when I was up from 10pm to 3am.breastfeeding her. I begged him to take over bottle feeding her the expressed milk and he said no as babies should learn delayed gratification and that I always want things in my own time.

I still have flashbacks of that night.

mind you he abandoned us when I was 11weeks pregnant and only came bk 3 weeks before she was born.

I feel so stupid when I think that I still stayed with him after all that.

twoandcooplease · 10/11/2022 23:17

if I speak to him in the same tone he says 'temper temper!' Or accuses me of being snappy and in a mood then says he's in a mood with me because I'm in a mood!

Recently I've been getting 'what's wrong? Why are you crabby?'

CRABBY!!!

Leomii81 · 12/11/2022 01:29

Totally draining living like this op how are you

Pixiedust1234 · 12/11/2022 01:55

I don't know how i missed this thread first time round. I had the same realisation in January when I realised my need to kill myself was actually a need to leave him, not my life. No idea if I can actually leave but I've certainly distanced myself from him, and I feel better for it.

Gioia1 · 12/11/2022 18:30

Darvo, gaslighting and projection. That’s what they do best.

FindingMeno · 12/11/2022 20:56

I was told I was selfish by a partner and it actually took me years to realise that actually he was selfish.
I used to ask him for his advice on everything but in hindsight I realise he was giving the wrong advice.
He thrived on stress and conflict. Once one drama had settled down he'd start a new one.
I realised when I was diagnosed with anxiety that my life would be so much calmer and more pleasant without dreading and worrying about the latest problem he caused.
I was a gutless c*nt and neurotic according to him.
Nice.

ScarlettMcCain · 13/11/2022 00:08

@RenegadeMasterx DP has made it clear many, many times that I am far less interesting than his phone Confused he actually can't get through a meal without whipping out his phone for some crappy reason - not even if he's moaned that he hasn't seen the DC all day and this is his only chance to talk to them!

@Gioia1 I really applaud your courage for leaving Flowers

@twoandcooplease 'crabby' would drive me utterly insane Angry it's like when DP moans that the house isn't as tidy as it should be... er yes, because there's two adults in it and only one ever does any housework!

@Pixiedust1234 honestly sometimes I just think 'grey rock' to myself when dealing with DP, gives me a bit of mental distance if nothing else...

@Wallywobbles riding might be a plan but it's soooo expensive round here!

I hope you are doing ok @faultyshowers ?

Gioia1 · 13/11/2022 11:41

@ScarlettMcCain thank you. The divorce is proving to be a nightmare. He’s fighting me on everything even asking for full custody of the unborn child. Those were his words to the family judge It’s crazy and I wonder why can’t people see through his craziness?
After 5 years of telling me am crazy I just said stop. The irony is that for nearly 2 years I’ve being going to my gp crying and he’s always advised me the same thing: leave it will only get worse. 6 months ago said gp offered me talking therapy with a psychiatric nurse at the practice( we live in the Netherlands so system is different) same advice: you need to leave.

a week before I left when my exh knew I wasn’t changing my mind he went to the psychiatric nurse and said I was displaying signs of paranoid psychosis directed at him. She then convinced gp to refer me to psychiatrist. I didn’t read the referral letter and good a thing as I wouldn’t have gone had I read why I was being referred . I went only once and after 5 mins I was told” well we see many women like you, there’s nothing wrong with you, you are simply in an abusive relationship and you don’t know it.” They’ve have now referred me to an organisation that deals with victims of all forms of domestic violence. I will be offered help with trauma.
the irony of this all is that I presented my psychology evaluation as part of evidence in court where it stated about 6 times that there’s no evidence of psychiatric or psychological problems with me rather that I’ve being in a mental emotional and financially abusive relationship.
Said exh stood in front of the judge with all the chutzpah in the world and said I manipulated the professionals who saw me and that I am a smooth talker capable of manipulating even the judge himself.

He has zero self-awareness.
Always blaming me. He often will say when yet again he messes our lives up “I fail because you want me to fail”
My reply would always be ” you ascribe so much power to me I might as well command it to rain and it will rain”

The lack of interest or attention in is daughter is the most painful thing for me and yet here he is fighting for 50/50 just to get back at me.

I am so exhausted but I’ve learnt a couple of things.

I have totally disengaged from him. Communication only about dd and only via email.
He used me as his dopamine fix(it’s a real thing with adhd brains) arguing for no reason, looking for a fight etc. hence my disengagement.

I survived for a long while by gray rocking but in the long run when little children are involved it’s not sustainable.

I firmly believe that it is healthier to be alone rather than subject your kids and yourself to a toxic environment.

Is it hard? Very. We are currently in a 2bed flat in a shelter in an old building without lift and we’re on the third floor. It is brutal. Sometimes my dd climbs up the stair using both her hands and feet. I can’t carry her plus shopping plus a protruding belly.

This week we will here the court’s decision as to who gets the house and children. I pray for a positive outcome. My lawyer says I have the upper hand but he’s instilled so much fear and anxiety in me I doubt everything.

am looking forward to finding myself again when this all ends.
many people say am a “super woman”. Am not. Yes am resilient and tough skinned but even constant dripping of water wears away the hardest of rocks.

Namrchangedforthis · 13/11/2022 13:19

So much of this resonates with me
zero help with newborns - despite being the higher earner I did every single night waking, he also wouldn’t get me drinks when I was breastfeeding and let me sink into exhaustion whilst he slept for days on end in the spare room.
The whole mood of the house being defined by his moods
on his phone the whole time
I left with two dc’s under 5, we have been divorced a few years now and my life is so much better.
I appreciate for me that financial independence made it so much easier to leave
I now get so much more rest as dc’s with their dad one week night and one weekend night - infinitely more free time that I ever had before which was zero.
my children are now seeing healthy adult relationships modelled where both partners pull their weight and are kind and respectful to each other but in all honesty even without dp my life is so much better without searing resentment every single day

ScarlettMcCain · 14/11/2022 23:50

@Gioia1 my heart goes out to you, what a terrible situation. I'm so glad you disengaged from your ex, I hope he'll step up and be a better parent now Flowers

@Namrchangedforthis if I had financial independence and/ or family support nearby I'd be gone long ago, but sadly I have neither... plus there is part of me that's just been crushed by constant put downs, the neverending "well you're rubbish at that", the snide comments to friends about how other dads get time away from their kids but he never does. This regardless of him doing pretty much exactly what he likes, going on holiday without us, having nights out whenever etc etc! And yes - constantly on his phone, then snapping if we ask him to put it down and actually talk to us...

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