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Ptsd And Passive-aggresive Husband

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AVR1962

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I have been married for nearly 24 years and what a crazy ride this has been. I life full of constant contradiction, enough to make me feel absolutely out of my mind at times. What did I do? Kept trying? Why? I didn't want to break up my family but it has come with a heavy price, my health! I am currently in counseling learning about PTSD and fight or flight. I could not figure out what was wrong with me but now I so get it. The crazy thing here is that I have been an honest sincere person who deserves so much better. I tried and tried again, thinking that some how I could make things good, that we could get thru the hard times but I now realize that was only a hopeful dream that was never going to come true. My husband has some serious problems, ones that he does not identify with and as long as he cannot see the issues I realize there is no future except for what I have endured the past 27 years of us being together. I have contacted an attorney to get the ball rolling for divorce.

Can anyone here relate?
 
AVR, you could have written this for me. :)

In our situation, though, his passive-aggression triggers my fight response, and then, well, shit his the fan. This has been a problem for a long time, with me taking the blame for overreacting so badly. Needless to say, things haven't been awesome for a long while.

Anyway, I was diagnosed a year ago, and everything made sense. You would think that this would signal the start of our healing, but no, he took advantage of my vulnerability and took verbal shots to me and about me to other people. We started marriage counseling then, and the counselor recommended that he leave our bedroom so that I could have a safe space. That was about six months ago. I tried to avoid him because I no longer trusted him to help me. We did talk and stuff but it was all superficial stuff.

So last week he told me that he was leaving me. He had decided at some point that when he left our bedroom, we had separated. I, on the other hand, thought that he wwas giving me space to work on recovery... We're trying to make sense of it all now, but I won't ever put up with passive-aggressive behavior from him again. There was a lot more to this story, but I'm so tired of thinking about it.

I'm glad you found us, and I hope you and your husband can work this out.
 
AVR, you could have written this for me. :)

In our situation, though, his passive-aggression trig...

I am all so familiar with the illogical thinking and passing blame. They are always the victim and we just need to accept in their book. I cannot tell you how many times I have been thrown under the bus so he could save his face and make me look responsible for whatever incident and yes, I too was made fun of in front of friends. Never supported with situations with his family, he would not involve himself in anything that might be confrontational or something that needed to be addressed so alot of weight fell on my shoulders and he would be completely detached so there was no mutual efforts to work thru issues or plan anything, he has been on avoid mode ever since I can recall.

I did file for divorce, husband agrees it is time, kids took it well. We are in the midst of separating everything on paper. He is acting, more than ever, that he wants me gone which just adds insult to injury.....I am not sure what I ever was to him except his fall guy.

We have not slept in the same bed in over 4 years. he initially started sleeping in another room one day, nothing said and then I asked him if we could switch rooms which he agreed to. Over a year ago he got real mad at me and started avoiding me, not coming home, wouldn't talk. It came out that he was mad that we were not sleeping in the same bed as man and wife. yet he was the one that had started sleeping elsewhere. It has always been a game of chase him and make him happy and if I didn't I would pay the price. I told him that I would not return to the marital bed as there was too many issues that needed to be addressed and hopping back in the sack was not going to solve those issues. He told me he did not want any more counseling and he was not willing to read any books. That meant living as roommates and I think when I decided I would not go back to the marital bed at his demands he decided it was on open door for him to do whatever. When I found his searches on the internet that was my last straw and I filed for divorce.
 
I'm glad you filed for divorce, because I think we may be married to the same man! :D

Seriously, though, I'm sorry that you have to go through this, but it sounds like he wasn't giving you any support, anyways, and in fact, causing you to suffer more. May I ask about the Internet searches you mentioned?
 
I'm glad you filed for divorce, because I think we may be married to the same man! :D

Seriously,...
My husband has had problems with porn addiction which we were counseled together for and he received one-on-one counseling as well several years back. I suspected that he became more careful with his searches....I would ask, he would tell me that he was not searching porn and I could not catch him but he was sure spending alot of time on the internet and sure displayed no interest in me. I would come into a room and he would start clicking out of windows, shutting himself in the bathroom with his Tablet for 30-40 minutes at a time, had passwords to get into certain parts of the computer.

In Jan I think he had let his guard down. I searched the history and he had hours of searches for busty ladies, "sexy Asian woman videos," article on a brothel in Nebraska, nude cruise information, various searches for celebrities in sexy videos or poses....tons of sexually related material. It seriously turned my stomach. According to the time on the history he would be looking at one site and then 10 minutes later he was looking at it again; probably the clicking of the windows I mentioned. I wrote the history down with dates and then I called him at work and asked him if he had been looking up this material and named it specifically. He told me he had not so I mentioned dates and times, specific site names and he told me he didn't know how that got on the computer, that he was not searching. He was the only one on that computer. I told him that history on computers does not lie. He then blamed it on me, saying that I had been distant.

Yes, I had been distant from years of his passive-aggressive behavior and being shown that I was a nothing under his feet. Did he ever think about talking or even asking or even trying? No, his world is about him so if I am not making him happy by keeping the relationship going he will please himself. he actually was pleasing himself with this when I was trying so it really makes no difference.

When I found his searches on the internet I told him that I would not stay unless he sought serious counseling for his addiction. He did no such thing. You see my husband feels others are to blame and he does not take responsibility for his actions. he logic is completely twisted and some of this I did see early on but I had no idea it was a problem to the extent it was.

He cheated on his first love, told her apologized by putting flowers and a card on her car windshield. She broke up with him. He, even when I met him, 3 years after his divorce from his first wife was saying he had been so hurt by his first love breaking up with him that he wasn't sure he could ever be close to another woman that was to explain his lack of pursuit towards me.So rather than seeing than she had just cause to break up he became the victim....he was the one that cheated...so his logic is really messed up. When he and his first wife were married he had demanded that she be home at a certain one night.....you see she had started going out with her girlfriends and he didn't like it and had told everyone she was having an affair. She didn't come home as she was told, she was later than the time he quoted her so he locked her out of her own house and filed for divorce and full custody of their children. He is the type that feels justified to do whatever he wants and you are supposed to accept it but you do anything that doesn't please him and you will pay the price one way or another, he is very vindictive. That is why I am surprised he is working with me right now on the divorce.
 
That makes so much sense to me! My heart aches for you because I can imagine how paranoid you must have felt through all this lies and your uncertainty. ((( hug )))

My husband had a breakthrough yesterday. He realized that he had been writing narratives in his head his whole life to justify blaming others for his problems. He would turn things around and change the story so that he was the victim. He is going to get help. We'll see how that goes...

I'm sorry that you have had to deal with such hurt and disappointment. I hope that you're finding some peace without him.
 
That makes so much sense to me! My heart aches for you because I can imagine how paranoid you must...
Amazing, how wonder for your husband to have a break thru!!!!!! I wish you the best! I am finding peace in moving forward, it is the only option I see for myself as I will no longer be the second women and i am tried of being blamed and ignored.
 
Amazing, how wonder for your husband to have a break thru!!!!!! I wish you the best! I am finding peace...

Our breakthrough kind of broke through. :/

I'm beginning to think that we may be better off alone...
 
I'm so happy I found this chat. Up until recently, I was married to a man with severe ptsd. We are now separated. My child has secondary ptsd as a result of me staying so long. I have lived with the things you all describe. I have taken a lot of criticism and blame and quite frankly had lots of rumours started about me from my husbands family. My child wants nothing to do with their dad. It continuously amazes me that his family do not even try to understand what we have been put through, nor that with ptsd, the person always takes it out and blames the family. How long are we expected to take this abuse. And because we called "enough" we get criticized. I really don't think people understand the intensity of the rage. I just want to yell " it is called rage for a reason." I struggle with the fact that no one seems to understand what we have been through. I struggle with watching my child get triggered into panic attacks and hurt by his family. all I had wanted was a happy family that stayed together and now this is where I'm at.
 
I'm so happy I found this chat. Up until recently, I was married to a man with severe ptsd. We are now separated. My chi...
Meg17, I am happy you found this thread. There is no way anyone can look into our lives and see what we have been thru with a spouse. Our dearest and closest friends will support us, something we all need and deserve. I do think though that siding happens in families. The dynamic that played out in our intact families usually continues into adult years so if brother or sister, mom or dad, supported anything that your husband did (good or bad) when he was a child, it is unlikely to stop now. In many families they do not even need a reason or they will create a reason that is unfounded to make the family member appear innocent and blame the spouse. It is sad but all too common.

Don't play into the deceit. Try to disconnect and walk away from these people who want to place blame and create rumors. They obviously lack compassion for what you have been thru and you don't need this in your life.
 
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