• We are a multilingual website again. Read the notice about this.
  • Understand AI use at MyPTSD: all AI use is explained in our AI help page. AI use is by choice here. It exists if you want it, but does nothing unless you choose to use it.

Relationship Ptsd Question/ Wife Left

Status
Not open for further replies.
No offense, but I'm tired of this advice society keeps giving people about marriage and long term relationships. This kind: "Do what makes you FEEL right and leave if that is how you can do that."
I hear what you are saying. Sometimes I wonder how gendered this subject is. I think, not nearly as much as it would have been in the 50s... As a woman, I know I grew up with the assumption I was supposed to get married - men may have that too, but then we hit this female/male issue about who chooses who. Even though I'm younger than bra burning days, I believed that the guy asks the girl.

Which, in a subtle way, means the guy is choosing.

Which means, it can be revolutionary for a woman to decide after 10 years of a loveless marriage, that she wants more from the partnership.

And it takes getting really on board with each other to fix that.

I'm not saying marriage is a trap, or shouldn't be fought for. Just that I think sociologically/psychologically, women and men approach the partnering issue differently. Not by conscious choice, but because of things we are still trying to understand about a wife not being property.

/end tangent
 
Which, in a subtle way, means the guy is choosing.

Women have a much larger selection of men to choose from due to women being being highly sought after, especially a high value guy, whereas a man, has a much smaller selection of women to choose from, especially a high quality woman. Any man and woman can see that when dating. Even terrible looking and terrible acting women can easily go score a new partner very quickly whereas a guy definitely cannot do the same. That is why they have ladies night at bars to draw men in because women are there and why last call for alcohol always ends up having a ton of guys with pretty much no more women because the ones that wanted to go home with guys already got picked up and left the ones that they didn't pick behind. Dating websites show the same stats. So in reality, it is women who pick the guys, guys just get to decide if the women that chose them are ones they want to stick around with and give the woman what she already knows the guy does or will provide her.

Which means, it can be revolutionary for a woman to decide after 10 years of a loveless marriage, that she wants more from the partnership.

Men have to do an extraordinary amount to keep even a little attention while the woman in the relationship easily keeps the mans attention, statistically speaking that is.

Love is not just an easy fuzzy feeling that sticks around just because. It takes work and people grow and mature. The core reasons people fell in love however are always embedded in the people's personality and ALWAYS can be used to respark passion. Love is decision to care about someone because of who they are at the core, not who they are just at that moment. Hard times will ALWAYS come in marriage, otherwise, it definitely isn't a marriage and is fantasy instead. To bail out when tough times comes shows lack of love. Sometimes people refuse to stop hurting their partner or their partner just gave up and refuses to care anymore at which point you can't force the other one to care, but you still can try to respark the connection. If one party starts not caring and the other person only cares if the first one does, that logically isn't reasonable or sustainable at all. The only way it works is if both people care even if the other person is not at the moment. Sorta like if one person gets sick and the other is well the one that is well helps the one that is sick until they are better and vice versa. It is a partnership. Not a roommate agreement.

This is a big thing to me because couples that make it till they are old and gray are the ones that gave a crap to stick it out when the other one was slacking until they were not slacking and vice versa. Studies actually show that this is true as well and that people that just bail out when things get hard, NEVER end up happy because it just can't logically work long term that way. You grow and get better at getting through tough times such as arguments and such. Otherwise you are always starting from square one instead of forging through the hard bits to actually get to the next relationship level.

Yes, also a bit of a ramble tangent, but it is an important thing that people understand and I feel that supporters need to really understand this to keep heart and do well for their sufferer that is having a hard time being as strong as the supporter can be during those tough times. There are times you have to give up and should like getting beat or what not but unstructured bail out isolation is not one of those times when it is a known situation and trend that happens but with a good chance of them also coming back as has been seen with many threads. Sometimes the people don't come back, but many times it seems they do.

I should eat this pizza now though. Not trying to be argumentative, just realistic and conversational in a positive intent kind of way.
 
Good call, Anon - thank you.

@MMKM - you sound like a very thoughtful person, and your analysis of the situation rings right.

I know that when I hide completely from the person who knows me the best, it's because I've become aware that I cannot 'get my face on', act normal. And I know it's not good reasoning but I'm too symptomatic to try and be healthy about it.

I think space is right. You might be able to extend the pressure less hand of 'I'm with you no matter what, and I love you, and I'd be lying to say I'm not worried - but I also know you are figuring this out. I'm the one person you don't need to worry about right now"

Not that, exactly. But something like? It's what the one person I know really is my friend unconditionally always tells me when I start to slip off the grid. And it relieves some of my pain in the moment.

Don't know if any of that is useful.
 
No offense, but I'm tired of this advice society keeps giving people about marriage and long term relationships.
I would agree with this if it were not posted on a forum for PTSD. But the advice to do what is best for oneself is especially relevant here, especially for supporters and for @MMKM , because PTSD can cause codependent relationships. Codependency is just as bad as drug addiction or alcoholism, and it can destroy people and entire couples. Hell, i have seen it destroy people and nearly died myself. So the "in sickness and in health" thing is just downright dangerous advice to give to certain couples that may be more susceptible to codependency. It just makes both people in the couple weaker, more self-destructive, etc. So, sure, "in sickness and in health" is great for couples that are already strong and have healthy coping mechanisms, but it's toxic for couples inclined toward codependency.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Donation drives

2026 Donation Goal

Goal
$1,800.00
Earned
$910.00
This donation drive ends in
0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds
  50.6%

Trending content

Featured content

Back
Top Bottom