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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

Don’t know what to do

6 replies

Bradley28 · 21/08/2024 21:12

I’ve been with my partner for a couple of years. We both have children from previous relationships. My partner stays with me during the week, and when he has contact with his children he sees them at his house. Everything is generally fine. But he has a very difficult and toxic relationship with his ex and I feel that she invades our life- in that she is discussed a lot and causes tension and drama. Sometimes this pushes me to the edge and the toxicity makes me very anxious. I've tried to talk to my partner about how we can better manage this, so that our life feels less bound up in her drama; but he just won’t discuss it. Just completely closes down. And I don’t know what to do anymore. I get that he needs to find his own way to manage that relationship, but I find the anxiety of it all too much to take as i am involved- through him, but it’s not my place to do anything about.

OP posts:
Madamecholetsbonnet · 21/08/2024 21:25

Well if he’s using you as an emotional dumping ground and you’re struggling, you need to decide whether you want to continue with the relationship or not.

Other people’s tedious drama can be very draining and you aren’t his support human.

GreyCarpet · 22/08/2024 08:12

What sort of things is he saying?

Is he processing his residual feelings from the relationship? In which case, is he ready for a new one emotionally? Because he needs to discuss this with a counsellor/therapist and not you.

Is she causing difficulties now in any way? Eg you're forced to deal with her in the present because she turns up on the doorstep or uses the children as a weapon or phones at 3am needing him to go round? In which case, he doesn't get to just shut down and not discuss it with you when you suggest finding better ways of dealing with it.

I agree that you need to reconsider the relationship if he persists in talking about her and allows you to be exposed to her drama but also won't proactively discuss ways of moving forward and managing it because this could go on for years.

If he wants an emotional offload - he needs a therapist.

If he wants to find a solution - he needs to he open to discussing it with you.

He can't offload to you but refuse to find a solution.

I'd suggest that it's too emotionally overwhelming for him to find a solution because this could antagonise his ex and he doesnt feel equipped to deal with the falllout. If this is the case, it's not taking to improve unless she gets bored of the drama and changes it herself.

So when you try and discuss it, you're just another woman giving him grief and he shuts you down because its easier for him when it's her he should he shutting down.

Bradley28 · 22/08/2024 09:02

Hi, thank you for your advice. I agree GreyCarpet that it’s easier to shut me down, than to deal with the fall out of tackling his ex. And you are right about the drama not ending unless she gets bored; as he is unwilling/unable to put some boundaries in place. He is otherwise a really great guy and we have lots of good stuff. I’d like to have the emotional skillset and resilience to be able to just brush off the drama his ex causes, but that is very hard to do, as it is very invasive. My mental health is at a real low from dealing with it, and attempting to help him move things forward, but nothing ever changing.

OP posts:
GreyCarpet · 22/08/2024 10:08

It's not resilience you need. It's for him to take responsibility.

It's not your responsibility to 'help him' move forward. It's your responsibility to protect yourself and its his responsibility to put boundaries in place and both of your responsibilities to present a united front.

If your mental health is suffering, this situation is not tenable in the long term is it?

This is what I would do.

Write down the main and salient points. Write down how it makes you feel. Read it through and take out any emotion from it. Keep it to facts.

Your ex does A; you respond by B; it makes me feel C. Factual. Read it and reread it. Just to he sure its exactly what you want to say and exactly what bothers you and why.

Then I would tell him you want to have a proper conversation about the situation about his ex. Tell him it needs to be factual and that you both know what the emotions involved are But that's not what this conversation is about.

Explain it to him as you have written it. If you find yourself ad libbing and putting in emotion. Stop. Apologise and then get back to the facts. If you stay calm, there is less for him to react to. Don't say, "It's affecting my MH," tell him what it makes you think and describe how it makes you feel - eg I feel anxious when this happens because... don't criticise or point fingers.

If he becomes emotional - tries shutting it down, gets upset, agitated, angry whatever. Remind him that this is an unemotional conversation and that you want both of you to discuss it to find a solution that works for you both. Not his ex. She is irrelevant in your lives. She is only able to cause problems between you or in your home because you are/he is letting her.

If he refuses to engage on a calm level; can't or won't regulate and manage his own emotions then you have a different problem and I would seriously reconsider the relationship.

Bradley28 · 22/08/2024 11:27

Thank you for your thoughtful advice. This feels like a good way to address the situation. I will put this into practice. Thanks again x

OP posts:
GreyCarpet · 22/08/2024 12:07

Good luck x

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