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Relationship Is It Ptsd Or Manipulation?

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Worried

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Hi all, I posted some time ago and vowed that I was not going to continue the relationship as it was too much for me but I can't explain the feelings I have for this man. Our story is complicated and please don't judge me for my wrongs.

When I met him he was like no one I had ever met. I was just coming out of my marriage of 13 years and he was everything my ex wasn't. I truly didn't think men existed like him. We dated for about 3 months and one evening out of the blue he tells me he is thinking about getting back with his wife who he had just told me he had been seperated from for 3 years. That lasted 5 days before we were back together and our relationship lasted 5 months. He had told me that he had nightmares every night and had been diagnosed with PTSD. It didn't really bother me as I had been surrounded by it due to my job. He went to training and while there I get a call out of the blue telling me he was freaking out and he was about to have a breakdown. He then tells me when he comes back he needs time to himself. We'll that lasted a month, I would check on him from time to time but never pushed. One month later I found out he was back with his estranged wife again but he was texting me and calling me within a couple of weeks telling me he loved me and missed me and needed me. I told him that I wouldn't be with him until he was divorced and held true to my word but we still talked some. One week while I was on vacation he text and called me while I was on the road, he got very angry with me and being on a long road trip by myself I decided that I was finally going to break free from him once and for all so I stopped responding to him completely. After about 5-6 text messages I finally called him and unloaded on him.

That night he called me in tears and begged me to help him because he didn't know who else to turn to. He came to my work that night and I gave him the key and he moved in a few days later, once he served her with divorce papers. Well it's been 3 months and he told me a few days ago that he couldn't live in my world (I have dogs and my kids and he's a little bit on the OCD side). One of the dogs had chewed on a baseball glove he's had for a long time even though he hasn't played ball since his injury. I told him that I understood, but there could be no going backwards in our relationship so this was it for us. I told him I loved him and I hated this but this is what it has to be. He is still here. He told me he loved me and that he wanted to be with me but he didn't know how. Judging by what I can tell, his marriage that He is dissolving now this has been common for them. I can't and I won't live like this. He has times where he is very affectionate with me and then we have spells when we go like this.

I keep hoping that this back and forth is his PTSD but maybe it isn't and he's manipulating me. What a mess I'm in. I want him to go back to counseling and I would like to go myself with him but I feel like I'm intruding.

Thoughts? And I can handle honesty cause I sometimes think he uses the PTSD as an excuse.
 
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I would end the relationship now. It's not fair to you to be pushed away then pulled back in only to be pushed away again. He honestly might not know what he wants and what he doesn't want regardless of the PTSD. Or he might be a jerk. It's one thing for him to isolate when he gets stressed and a whole other thing to run back to his wife then back to you. End it and suggest to him that he get therapy to help him work out his feelings. Only after he has done the work to sort himself out should you even consider being in a relationship with him again. And, quite possibly, by the time he gets it figured out, you might have already moved on with your life and not be interested. Some time apart will help both of you figure out what you really want.
 
It sounds like you're making your life more difficult than it needs to be. I suggest you find a therapist for yourself to help to become "unhooked" from this relationship and learn how to put yourself and your children first and foremost, to help enable YOU to live a realatively healthy and happy life regardless of other people's problems and how much you like someone.

Please refrain from getting caught up in his need (or going with him) for counseling. That's his business to walk the path towards healing, unraveling the connection to his spouse, and ideally he'll do it because he wants to for himself.
 
It sounds like he is using you and his wife, when it gets bad with one he has the other to hook back in. He is probably saying the same things to her that he is saying to you because he does not want to be alone. I think your instincts are right, you have to look after yourself and your children first, that is your priority. You said it yourself, this was common in his marriage and it isn't going to change just because he is with you, people don't change that much.
 
I keep hoping that this back and forth is his PTSD

Why? What difference would it make if it was PTSD? The end behaviour is still the same, and you say you can't live like that - I would feel the same. But even if it's PTSD, you'd be living like that. You are living like that. He and his wife lived like that. That's how he lives.

I think you need to consider it as a relationship between him and your kids too. How do they fit into this?

I posted some time ago and vowed that I was not going to continue the relationship as it was too much for me but I can't explain the feelings I have for this man.

I think you need to look at these feelings and not at him. I agree with DMerish's suggestion to get therapy for yourself and stop thinking about therapy for him. Especially since you say:

When I met him.. I was just coming out of my marriage of 13 years

You're asking about what's going on with him, but I think you need to ask what's going on with you to be continuing the relationship.
 
Let's throw PTSD out of the mix. He allowed no time whatsoever between being with his wife and being with you. In fact, it's overlapping. This is a HUGE red flag. I don't care what the circumstances are....healthy people don't "relationship jump". It is not healthy to not have a time of being single in order to fully move past the ex before getting together with someone new.

This isn't PTSD. He's a jerk. What sort of example are you setting for your kids? Your daughter will think it's ok to get with guys who just bounce around and your son will think it's ok to treat women this way.
 
In my own PTSD journey, sorting the person from the disease is an extension of the nature vs nurture debate. We don't get clear lines on it, not even when we ruin lives with our research.

I keep my focus on working my own pieces of the puzzle and trusting my loved ones to work their pieces. When I am hurting myself, I am deluding myself far than I am helping anyone. I have yet to find the exception within my own journey. Genuine, beneficial help feels good to give.

I am reading more martyrdom than gratification in your post, but then... I project like a big dog and have an officially diagnosed martyr complex in my psycho train.

Keep sorting, Worried. Hope you find what it is for you.
 
PTSD is no excuse for disrespect, lies, manipulation, infidelity, and unwillingness to live an honest life. What you are describing is abuse and he will likely never stop being the kind of person he is right now.

It sounds like this man may have some kind of personality disorder. It doesn't matter what is wrong with him, only that what he brings into your life at the worst moments is wrong, and you deserve better.

There's also a good chance there's other women involved, and I hope you'll get a test for sexually-transmitted diseases to ensure he has not brought yet more problems into your life. Also, change all your passwords and check all your financial accounts to ensure he hasn't taken out credit on your name.

Please get yourself to a domestic abuse agency to find out your options regarding removing him from your home and life. Also, seek counseling for yourself to identify how you got into this situation so you don't find another abuser like him. You did not cause him to be what he is. You cannot cure him. But if you don't take steps to extricate yourself from this selfish person, he will drain everything from you as your put your time into fixing his issues rather than enjoying your precious time on this earth.

Your desire to continue to give him more chances despite all evidence that he doesn't appreciate it is a disease which has a name. It's called co-dependency and there is treatment for it. Abusers and cheaters don't have relationships, they take hostages.

Save yourself and let him be responsible for his own life. You deserve a relationship free of such chaos and risk.
 
I've been where you are. In fact, most people that have been or are currently in dysfunctional relationships have been exactly where you are.

Whether your S/O has PTSD or not isn't the issue. Either way- he has significant baggage that needs tending to before he get's involved with another person.

Whether you want to take on the baggage of either PTSD or ex-wife is really up to you. Neither bag is easier than the other- just so you are aware. The only difference between the two is one is true mental illness and the other is just plain wanting cake and eating it too.
 
I think it could be many things. It could be PTSD related as sometimes when there is increased intimacy there is increased fear and then with distance there is loss and so it cycles. It could also be attachment issues. He could be pushing and pulling from that. Or he could have serious problems making up his mind about things and just be immature. etc etc etc.

The important part though is that you said you can't live like this. That tells you all you need to know.
 
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