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The thing that has been helping me is the exercise of writing down the upsetting event, then recording the negative feelings and rating them, then in a table identifying my negative thoughts and the belief I have in them, then the distorted thinking that leads to the thoughts, and finally a rational response and my belief in those. While sometimes the rational response are unconvincing in contradicting some negative automatic thoughts (i.e., have an affair) this certainly has helped me discuss my feelings with my spouse in a positive manner. It is a lot of very hard work doing rational introspection and owning my cognitive distortions.@Forest97 ;
Hello and welcome
It’s a bit difficult for me to express what I’m trying to say because of being awkward I miss a lot of things with a lot of words - so usually read things twice. Am almost 100% visual learner but want to share what I am seeing in your post.
It’s all about him!
WHAT ABOUT YOU! Your a sweetheart, this shows in the amount of caring you have for this fellow. The only thing I think “may” work would be for the two of you to go to therapy together since it doesn’t seem like he’s going to allow you to go without him or vice versa - but do you see how that right there sounds....he will not “ALLOW” YOU.
How did he become your keeper? This sounds terribly unhealthy and he is controlling you and it’s working! I had a guy do this to me when I was in my late teens, then another again in my early 20’s.
Try this, just an idea. Go back and re-read your post to us and please....look at where it’s about him and not you. Friend, this should be about you and your health and your life, please get some help with or without him. If your not a fan of mental therapy the I’d suggest a group called Al-Anon. They are free, no therapist running it and the way they live is wonderful. It’s not for Aspies per sey (Its a way of life - handling situations) it’s for those that love/live with alcoholics. I grew up in a home like that and was married a short time to an alcoholic - BUT It’s the way they live/believe that worked for me, the 12 steps can work pretty much for most all situations.
I’d say you could be considered to be in a situation that could follow along the lines of:
“Accept the things I cannot control and the wisdom to know the difference”. This is one of the twelve steps I learned over 40 years ago that still helps me. You cannot control this fellow, but he sure is controlling you and at some point something is going to give.
Please take care of YOU, it would be wonderful if you could take a day and get a massage, have a good meal with some friends and give yourself some space. Is there a nice way to tell him that he will eventually smother you and you will run away from him if he keeps this up? That’s nature, eventually you will have enough.
(((Big Hug)))
I have noticed that in myself. If I have no outside schedule making demands on me, I will lapse very quickly into a sleep 10, stay awake 18 pattern. But I adjust my sleeping because that would interfere too much with things I want to do. Hiking, doing things with my wife, docenting at a local nature center, etc. I manage a 9-15 schedule without too much problem but I have to be religious about it. My wife is an 8-16 person.I have already piled a lot up, but I also want to mention sleep problems. His sleeping times rotates and I'm stuck giving into it. He insists that it's too hard to sleep at a set time because of... not liking to lay down without immediately falling asleep because he doesn't like to get stuck with his own thoughts, and acid reflux. He's told me that he has insomnia but there has not be a single night where he falls asleep first. He doesn't always get restful sleep and has vivid dreams all night. I fall asleep after him and wake up before him and honestly, I feel too ill to exercise ever. 4 hours of sleep last night. I'll definitely push this one more.
You are enabling him
Going to live with your dad seems like a reject idea to me, I know there is alot that you have had to leave out of your description. But it just feels wrong somehow. Unless did he invite you there? Do you know it to be a good place? Is he safe?
If you get along with your mom pretty well, I think you should call her. It needs to be a private conversation, somehow. I know that can be hard to do sometimes. You should be able to have some privacy, as a matter of decency. It's actually really important.[to have privacy]
Read up on attachment theory and the idea of the secure base, often applied to a parent figure for a child, but this can equally apply in later relationships, where both people are likely to relate and react based on previous experience in attachments with parents or carers.
What you are doing is more like adopting a child than having a relationship, think of it like that at this stage. Not to say there isn't somethings that are great about him and your relationship, just as adoption can be so rewarding.
Challenge without enough support feels frightening for him, and currently it's making him clingy. This is a long term project, and if you don't want to take it on at your age and stage it would be understandable, and possibly wise. There's also never a guarantee in an adult relationship that the person you hope to empower by your support will accept help, or will stay in the relationship if they grow and change. He's a free person, and so are you. Do you want to be his mentor and responsible adult, is there enough in it for you, or are you hoping he'll change, and fast!
Have you grown at all in this relationship? Do you have the stamina to help him become more independent and less codependent? Because this will result in a young man who has a healthy attitude and in turn can be a better partner down the road for you if you stick this out. You can start first in the kitchen by explaining that his first step towards being supportive partner is to get things on his own in the kichen. If he constantly points things out, tell him he is allowed to tell you to look at one thing every hour or 5 things total in a day or whatever you think works out. These are small steps but still can work.
Are you strong enough to talk to him daily and get him to think like this? That clingy behavior is understandable but you need to have a bit of a break and alone time because this creates trust and a deep bond between the two of you.
It also helps him slowly walking to some independence which is critical should something happen to his parents or your mom.
Welcome, and thanks for opening up and clearly describing all that you are going thru. I hope l didn't say anything that seemed disrespectful to you.☺
This looks like straight-up bullying and victim shaming by him, to me. When there is the possibility of words turning into physical violence against you, I would say to run like the wind away from such a situation.Something pretty bad happened.
He dug out of me that I was getting support on here. And threatened to leave me/kill himself because of it and that is was wrong of me. He was so angry "Do not do that again!!!!" "WHO where you talking too!!?" "WHERE??!!"
Something pretty bad happened.
Last night he was talking to me about something, I had a really long day and started to feel like I was being lectured because I had no opening to say anything which is not uncommon. It was him trying to explain that he thinks I should be more open to not acting on my emotions. I laid there as he was talking to me, with my hands over my eyes and face because of how stressed I was but he doesn't do anything about that and will just keep talking. At the end of it I was just dead on the bed, eventually he came over to me and asked if anything was wrong. I.... wanted to give him honesty but it lead to horrible, horrible-ness. I feel so alone.
He dug out of me that I was getting support on here. And threatened to leave me/kill himself because of it and that is was wrong of me. He was so angry "Do not do that again!!!!" "WHO where you talking too!!?" "WHERE??!!"
The problem is that I shut down and don't remember things and I feel like it's used against me "Well I remember how it happened." he'll say.
After a long time of me trying to talk to him, in his apathetic state, saying bad things to me, he laid down on my legs, continuing to do it even as I tell him I love him and it's not him. He said more and I all of a sudden slapped him hard on the face.
He started going onto the floor sobbing, and his mother came downstairs. It was all so much and waiting, sleeping, waking up I hoped that I could get some sort of reassurance. He even told me that he doesn't know if he loves me or if he's just really lonely and selfish.
He apologized, but at the same time does not accept that he has most the problem as far as what is integral in a relationship. Then he started screaming at me again. He's envious that all I do is cry and it makes him offended. He's already once again told me that I have a victim complex, that I'm a baby, he mocked my crying. He is treating me coldly and suddenly hitting me with "If you take the responsibility that I think you should take, the longer you think that the longer we will be apart."
I'm so sad I gave my heart to him and did sexual things. I clinged onto an idea of doing it with just one person, the person I'll love forever.