Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

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

Can anyone explain passive aggressive to me please?

19 replies

scarlotti · 09/02/2010 22:21

Having issues with dh, to the point that am considering leaving, and am wondering if he's passive aggressive but am not sure I know exactly what that is.
Can anyone explain it to me please?

He will say he'll do stuff but never does, but that could just be him being lazy. He will avoid decisions and anything serious and just make a joke instead. He doesn't take responsibility for anything in our house/life but wants input into everything, from small stuff like choosing curtains to the big stuff like finances and childcare etc. (don't have an issue with the wanting input but do have an issue with wanting input but not being prepared to actually do anything)

Am just trying to work out what the hell is going on really. Think I'm at the point where I've lost the will to keep trying to better things between us, but would still like to understand what is happening if for no other reason than to avoid it happening again in future.

It may just be that I am a mug or a bit of a muppet and he knows he can be lazy as I'll do whatever needs sorting.

OP posts:
WhatNoLunchBreak · 09/02/2010 22:40

Hi scarlotti

This might help you get started on answering your question:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_aggressive

2rebecca · 09/02/2010 23:33

Sounds more lazy than passive aggressive.
I would insist he pulls his weight and tell him you're thinking of ending the marriage if he continues to be irresponsible.
I expect my bloke to have input into household furnishings though so think you're a bit odd moaning about him wanting input into stuff. Surely if he's seeing curtains etc with you he's also commenting on the decision re which to buy though?
Does he work and you stay at home so he maybe thinks you should do some of the stuff you're asking him to do?
Is he maybe not bothered about some of the stuff you're asking him to do but too polite to say "I really don't care about x, if it bothers you do it yourself".
If it's stuff that really needs doing and you both pull your weight work wise then I'd tell him you're not happy doing all the household work.
Passive aggressive is when you do snide stuff to get back at your partner rather than having an argument and telling them what the problem is eg if you refused to have sex with him because he wasn't pulling his weight, rather than telling him that unless he pulls his weight the relationship is doomed.
He's just being lazy.

cheerfulvicky · 09/02/2010 23:43

scarlotti, are you with my DP?? He is very similar. I usually just ignore it but it can be crazymaking - like he is trying to wind me up but if I call him on it he'll be all: "What??"
Try this link for more on PA. divorcesupport.about.com/od/abusiverelationships/a/Pass_Agg.htm
Hope you're okay...

KerryMumbles · 09/02/2010 23:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hobbgoblin · 09/02/2010 23:54

Sounds more like control and perfectionist issues to me. These (I know, as a sufferer) can cause procrastination, full-on avoidance, and a need to know everything attitude).

It can make the person appear lazy and inconsiderate but, for me at least, the task avoidance is due to the anxiety the need for perfection causes.

For example; if I have to clean the kitchen it would require almost a full monty clean with perhaps only the toaster and microwave staying in situ. Thus, I will happily leave it unclean from breakfast until teatime as it is too big a job. This looks lazy but that is not the cause of my tardiness.

Sound at all possible?

scarlotti · 10/02/2010 08:32

2rebecca - we both work full time. I am off on maternity at the moment and have had to sa.e enough money to stay off as he will not contribute more.
I don't mind the input into things around the house, what annoys me is the 'no, I don't like that' but no indication as to what is acceptable so that it can be sorted out. Bigger things though are blocked when they don't have any impact on him - we have a serious parking issue in our street, I want to sort the garage so I can park in there, he doesn't want to bother. He doesn't drive so it makes no odds to him, it's me that struggles to park and then get teh dc's home iyswim.
I'll say the lawn needs mowing, he'll say he'll do it (I was heavily pg at the time), he doesn't but won't let me get someone in to do it. In the end my DD(15) did it as the ds' couldn't play in the garden as it was so long.

Probably didn't explain myself well above. I'll check out the links to find out more, but it does sound more like it's just laziness and avoiding confrontation as the status quo is far more balanced in his favour

OP posts:
scarlotti · 10/02/2010 08:48

cheerfulvicky - thanks for your link, it's explained it in a really easy to understand way. Out of the 9 things listed on page 1 I reckon he's got at least 7 of them.

Well, I guess I did ask!

Thanks for all your replies.

OP posts:
WhenwillIfeelnormal · 10/02/2010 09:35

Scarlotti - having read this, and your other thread, what I recognise from what you're saying is that your husband is actually quite controlling. It's actually a very subtle form of controlling behaviour, but powerful in effect nevertheless. You might never have recognised him as controlling - or he himself - but it would be a good talking point at Relate.

You're describing a conflict of childish control methods and fewer that are associated with adulthood. The childish behaviours are laziness, procrastination over necessary but disliked tasks, sulkiness, disproportionate anger/irritation, refusal to engage in an adult dialogue (or engage at all), victim-focused behaviour and counter-attack. Put simply, these behaviours are about a refusal to take personal responsibility. The only adult controlling behaviour I have seen in your post is his insistence on making the final decision about household matters.

What confuses the issue is that you may have been enabling the behaviour by infantilising him to some extent - and so in effect, you have become his parent. Your behaviour then becomes more visibly controlling, so you complain, make repeated requests, take control of things that haven't been done, re-do tasks that have been botched, insist on discussing his faults and at its worst, treating him with contempt.

To outward appearances, it can look as though you are the more controlling of the partnership, but the reality is different.
What you're both doing is perpetuating a dance, or a script that put simply, characterises a rebellious child and an angry parent.

The good news is that this behaviour is capable of change - and is less pernicious than adult controlling behaviours, such as possessiveness, jealousy, unreasonably high standards and behaviours that most of us would recognise as abusive.

However, like most things, the adults within the relationship need to recognise what's happening, "own" the behaviour, find the root cause of it and resolve to change. It often needs the most powerful incentive to change and in adult relationships, that usually means the threat of the relationship ending.

People who display childish controlling behaviours tend to be emotionally retarded by definition (they have never grown up or learned to express feelings in an adult way) and they lack emotional intelligence - so it can seem an uphill struggle to get them to engage in the first place. A third party like a counsellor can be very powerful in situations like this.

If you have become that angry parent, I'm sure it's a role that you didn't want in a marriage of two adults and you may see it as the only response possible if anything was to get done - I understand that. However, the counselling might also get to the root of why you chose a parental role to cope with the situation - and where that behaviour was learned.

scarlotti · 10/02/2010 10:02

whenwillifeelnormal - thank you for such an insightful reply. Anyone would think you live here! That is exactly what is happening and I do enable it to continue by acting like the parent and nagging etc. I've recently realised this and so have tried to become more aware of my actions and stop nagging etc.
I will definitely explore this in relate and have already decided to carry on counselling if we do split so I don't carry on the same pattern. I have had several sessions in the past with other counsellors and found it very helpful.
My mother had divorced twice by the time I was 12 so I suspect that a lot of my learnt behaviour stems from this. My step dad was very similar to dh, although I would never have guessed that at the beginning.
Thanks again for your reply.

OP posts:
YouKnowNothingoftheCrunch · 10/02/2010 13:24

My only word of warning scarlotti, is that my H was diagnosed by his second counsellor as being the child to my adult. Exactly the same things were all true of him. Unfortunately in my case he used the response behaviour (my adult role) to blame me for his primary behaviour (being unable to take responsibility for his feelings or actions). It was after this that his behaviour really developed into full blown emotional abuse because according to his counsellor we were "both responsible for our roles".

You do need to be careful with this. Someone whose primary drive is to not take responsibility for their actions, can latch on to blaming someone else (usually you) for everything. The more counselling he got the more he felt justified in pointing out my behaviour and ignoring his own.

It's just a word of warning. Of course you will need to learn to alter your reactions to him (to let him move on from the child role), but the responsibility for his behaviour has to lie with him.

scarlotti · 10/02/2010 13:29

Interesting you say that as his response to everything is that I take control and therefore he can't do anything as I've already done it. He will admit that he leaves taking responsibility for things to me, but will then say that I want it that way as I'm a control freak.
Also, when we went to counselling before he did hijack it pretty much and kept speaking about himself and getting his feelings/thoughts aired.

OP posts:
YouKnowNothingoftheCrunch · 10/02/2010 13:35

Sounds worrying. With H the worse he felt the more he blamed me for everything. And the more he blamed me, the more right he had to get angry with me and not care about how I felt.

Saying it's all your fault he can't do anything is a cop out. We both know that. Whatever their reason for doing it, it causes us stress and anxiety. So either they care about the affect it is having on us or they don't

I love the idea that we want them to not do the things we've asked of them, so that we can then nag them

How much fun does that sound?!

scarlotti · 10/02/2010 14:33

I know, it's ludicrous

OP posts:
LeQueen · 10/02/2010 16:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Zoomy · 10/02/2010 16:36

This is how I understand passive/aggressive behavior.

Say my DH arranges with MIL that a family visit to MIL will happen on Saturday. No-one asked me if I wanted to go and as it happens I don't want to go.

Now the sensible route would be to express myself in an adult manner by saying I don't fancy visiting MIL this weekend could we re-arrange for next weekend?

When in P/A mode, I don't do this adult stuff very well...what I will do though is this....

Sigh at the mention of visiting, but not say anything constructive expressing my unwillingness to go. I will then wake up in an unbelievably bad mood the morning of said visit, will find umpteen 'important' things that need doing before we can leave the house, have a sudden inability to organise an outfit for myself, nothing fits, wrong colour, over/under dressed etc. Meaning we leave the house sometimes 2 hours behind schedule! Then on the way I have a brain wave of places we can 'pop into' for shopping. Oh and of course I will think of some desperate reason why our visit can only be a short one!

DH had to be punished you see (and everyone else) for making me do something that I didn't want to do. Not that they knew I didn't want to go as I never said anything!

I hope me revealing the madness that is 'me' has clarified the P/A thing a bit!

PS I don't actually behave like this anymore...but did once upon a time.

thesteelfairy · 10/02/2010 17:46

whenwillifeelnormal You have described my relationship with my exh in your posts. It is uncanny. Can you please recommend any further reading on these kind of relationships as i think it would really help me to deal with ongoing issues with exh to know more.

ADifferentMe · 11/02/2010 08:51

whenwillifeelnormal - probably the most sensible and relevant post I've ever read on MN, I feel slightly creeped out! Are you a counsellor or is this just wisdom you've gained from counselling?

scarlotti · 11/02/2010 09:01

Adifferentme - my thoughts exactly. I was stunned when I read it as it explains my situation and how I feel completely. Presumably that means that it's not that uncommon which seems a bit sad.

zoomy - thanks for your post and sharing. My dh is like this, either doesn't do what he doesn't want to or does it, but then makes it obvious he didn't want to and as difficult for everyone as possible. It's very tiring and wearing.

OP posts:
Zoomy · 11/02/2010 11:18

Hi scarlotti

I don't know what your DH's childhood was like but my P/A behaviour was through having a very controlling father and no room to disagree with him about anything at all.

The P/A behaviour became a way of me showing my opposing view without having to face a direct confrontation. My Dad (during my childhood) was very scary when anyone disagreed with him so I learnt to internalise my frustrations, which then turned into the P/A stuff. I never realised I did this at all until I was older...then felt such a twit for behaving like a child for so many years. P/A really does equate to a child having a tantrum and if they kick off enough they get their own way.

It was my DH that confronted me about why I behaved that way. He'd had enough one day and shouted at me "That if I didn't want to do something, why the feck didn't I just say so and save everyone all the drama?!" That was the trigger for me looking for answers as to why I did the P/A stuff.

I know it's wearing and tiring, for my DH to snap like that at me, he really must have been at the end of his tether.

Good luck with relate hopefully your DH will get his 'trigger' moment and sort himself out too.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread