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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

Constant cheating accusations - why is he so paranoid?

294 replies

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 22:45

My partner is driving me crazy. We've been together not much over a year and he seems to have major trust issues. Early on in our relationship I noticed he had a tendency to over-analyse things I said to question if I believe in monogamy (which I do) or if I had feelings for other people.

These accusations started to build over the last few months and they've got quite intense. He flat out accused me of cheating about six months ago because (after I got a coil fitted) I had discharge and had worn a thong to work that day. Since then, there have been lots of random accusations. He gets very anxious when I go out for drinks with male colleagues and there is one particular male colleague (who years back I had a crush on) that he is especially suspicious over (who I wouldn't go for a drink with one on one, because it would be disrespectful to my partner). He has demanded before that I stop going for drinks with male colleagues, that I stop speaking to this other male colleague at all, accused me of cheating because the same man appeared twice in pictures from a day out with my family (coincidental), accused me of secretly being in contact with my ex because he saw their first name on my phone (it was a song by a singer with the same, very common, first name!), accused me of hiding something because someone whose number I don't have saved messaged me, accused me of cheating because the passenger seat had been moved in my car and I forgot my uncle had been in the car...

Some of it has improved (he's stepped back from the ultimatums over me drinking with male colleagues, for example, which is part of my job) but I feel like he has absolutely zero trust in me, even though I haven't so much as glanced at someone else.

He's broken up with me a few times and we've quickly got back together, but in that time he was asking a lot about whether I had slept with someone else (when it had been just a few days!!) and whether I saw us as exclusive while we talked through our issues (which I said I did).

All of a sudden last month he mentioned we should get STD checks because he still is suspicious of his ex gf. We've been together for nearly 1.5 years and we both did an STD check before we first slept together. I would usually see this as cast iron evidence of him cheating, but logistically it's not really possible he has been sleeping with someone else. I think he must have suggested this because he was suspicious that I had slept with someone else while we were very very briefly broken up? Even though he asked me and I said no. It had only been a few days so it didn't even occur to me to ask him.

He hasn't really been in relationships before and so he hasn't ever been cheated on. There wasn't infidelity in his parent's marriage. I did cheat on an ex but that was over a decade ago and I've learned a lot from it in the time that has passed.

This is never going to change is it?

OP posts:
rainbowlou · 30/01/2024 23:12

You could be me with my ex . He was cheating and projecting onto me..he will never make you happy as it’s all about him and his insecurities

LorlieS · 30/01/2024 23:15

@whendidisaythat I see. Sounds like my ex. I was his first serious relationship and tbh he was late 20s so I should've been suspicious of him at that point. He didn't know how to love, in essence. Turned out he wasn't capable of it.
Is your partner controlling?

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:17

@LorlieS I'm not sure I'd describe him as controlling necessarily. Interestingly, he accused ME of having too much control in one of our break ups.

OP posts:
blacksax · 30/01/2024 23:19

He thinks you are a slag.

Dump him. No relationship is worth this treatment. Nothing you ever say will persuade him otherwise. He has an extremely low opinion of women in general by the sound of it.

Copperoliverbear · 30/01/2024 23:20

Why are you even staying he's just going to get worse, obviously serious issues x

Ladyof2022 · 30/01/2024 23:20

Oh my god! There are millions of other men out there, why on earth are you putting up with his b* day after day?

LorlieS · 30/01/2024 23:21

@whendidisaythat Just make sure that doesn't ramp up. My ex was OK at first but slowly started revealing his true colours. He was a total misogynist who never allowed me to make a decision or have an opinion. I think a lot of this was because he simply couldn't see things from anybody else's viewpoint except his own.
Hopefully this doesn't sound like your boyfriend, though.

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:23

Well, it's confusing. He has said once or twice that he felt like he should have more control over "our world" once the relationship got more serious.

Maybe because he wasn't controlling like my exH I missed some obvious signs? I don't know? I think he's just paranoid though.

OP posts:
BugofLove · 30/01/2024 23:28

Is he trans OP? Just with you saying how sure you are he wouldn’t have sex elsewhere?

In my experience of insecure partners it just doesn’t get better. And any allowances you make yo try to help his insecurity will just make it worse as he expects more and more.

please run from this one.

LorlieS · 30/01/2024 23:29

@whendidisaythat This might sound silly but ask him what the expectation would be if you had children. I have always enjoyed my career but once I'd had children ex tried to stop me from working, insisting out of the blue that it was my "job" to solely look after him and the children. I refused but any money I earned he took from me and "handed it out" when he felt I needed it. Got to the point where I was going hungry.
Does he encourage you to have positive relationships with your friends and family?

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:29

No, not trans, but it is a psychological issue that becomes a physical one. I'm close to certain he never physically cheated as a result.

OP posts:
C00k · 30/01/2024 23:29

don’t go near any blokes until you’ve at least done the freedom project, had therapy, and worked on your standards and self respect.
Of all the 4 billion males in existence, the only reason to date one is if he is of very high quality, enhances your life, and dating him is fun. That’s the entire point.
discard this shit specimen.

MissingMoominMamma · 30/01/2024 23:30

Do you want to spend the rest of your life justifying yourself?

DejaMooo · 30/01/2024 23:32

Can I ask, all these break ups, are they him instigating them? My ex did this a lot in the first year - I didn't see it at the time but it was his way of making me so desperate to try and make things right and keep him (after all the initial love bombing) that I'd end up adjusting my behaviour. Even though I wasn't doing anything wrong.

Regardless, relationships should never be this hard. When you meet someone good after putting up with this sort of crap, it's like an epiphany - I remember saying to myself "so this is what a normal relationship looks like".

SamW98 · 30/01/2024 23:32

Honestly OP this guy has more red flags than a Moscow May Day parade and you seem to be making excuses for him.

I know you said you’ve had abusive relationships previously so that’s clouding your judgement here. He is abusive just in a different way over your used to.

Please stop justifying his control and abuse walk away and don’t get into another relationship until you’ve had therapy to understand why you pick these men. Look at the freedom programme. That would help you immensely.

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:33

MissingMoominMamma · 30/01/2024 23:30

Do you want to spend the rest of your life justifying yourself?

I kept hoping that if he continued therapy and I showed him with my behaviour that I was trustworthy, eventually he would relax into the relationship. He won't though will he

OP posts:
whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:33

DejaMooo · 30/01/2024 23:32

Can I ask, all these break ups, are they him instigating them? My ex did this a lot in the first year - I didn't see it at the time but it was his way of making me so desperate to try and make things right and keep him (after all the initial love bombing) that I'd end up adjusting my behaviour. Even though I wasn't doing anything wrong.

Regardless, relationships should never be this hard. When you meet someone good after putting up with this sort of crap, it's like an epiphany - I remember saying to myself "so this is what a normal relationship looks like".

Yes, always him, and multiple times.

OP posts:
LorlieS · 30/01/2024 23:36

@whendidisaythat Is he a "warm"/affectionate/seeking intimacy sort of person? If he's not had girlfriends or even many friends I'm wondering why not.

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:38

He's very warm and affectionate. Just got a lot of issues.

OP posts:
maltesefiction · 30/01/2024 23:39

Might be time to walk away. People never change.

whendidisaythat · 30/01/2024 23:42

He also has a huge thing about exes - I'm not in contact with any of mine. But when we've broken up before and talked about being friends, he says "I can only be your friend until I meet a new partner". I find that so odd - either you're a friend or you're not?

OP posts:
DramaAlpaca · 30/01/2024 23:42

Come on, OP. This man, whatever his issues, is controlling.

It will only get worse.

Do you really want to live like that?

Mumofteenandtween · 30/01/2024 23:43

My rule of thumb for a new relationship is simple:-

If your relationship is only a year or so old and you are posting on mumsnet about it then, unless the post is a poorly disguised annoying bragfest about the amazing mess of your relationship, then the relationship is really not worth the bother.

DejaMooo · 30/01/2024 23:43

@whendidisaythat You deserve better. Nothing you can do will make him change - every time you change your behaviour to appease him you'll lose a part of yourself, and it will never work anyway because he'll just move the goalposts. Once you agree to stop having drinks with your colleagues for e.g. he'll just move on to the next paranoia. You'll spend your life worrying about what might set him off and eventually you'll just not bother, and stay in with him to avoid the conflict. It's a tale as old as time sadly. I know too many women who have been through this, myself included.

Escapingafter50years · 30/01/2024 23:43

Read the "Partner asking me to cover up" thread, also on the Relationships board.

Different story, same problem.
He is trying to control you.
You need to break up permanently.
You need to learn about boundaries, controlling relationships, and how to consider your needs in a relationship and ensure they are met.
This is so important for you, its not easy but in years to come you will look back and be so grateful.