Relationship and family issues

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Chris_B PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: 3 important tips to get the most out of this section
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, The Relationships & Family Issues section is one of the busiest here on our forums. It's also one of the areas where we find members can get themselves into trouble! Before posting here, take a deep breath and be mindful of the following... View more

Hi everyone, The Relationships & Family Issues section is one of the busiest here on our forums. It's also one of the areas where we find members can get themselves into trouble! Before posting here, take a deep breath and be mindful of the following 3 tips: 1. Do you really want to share this with the world? This is a public forum. Are you thinking of posting something that could identify you to a friend or family member? Once you've posted, you can't delete what you've written and we don't take posts down from here unless they've broken one of our community rules. This is because our members spend a lot of time composing replies, and there is a much wider audience that gets a lot out of reading what has been written. It's not fair to ask the community for support, then ask to have it removed once you've read it so others can't also benefit. Use discretion when posting here - think about the level of detail you are sharing, and think also about who might know you are posting here. Also, please keep it clean: this is an all ages forum and explicit discussions about sexual problems are not permitted. Threads and posts of this nature will be removed and your account placed on a moderation hold. 2. What do you want to get out of posting here? Relationship and family issues are stressful. Members sometimes post here seeking advice about a relationship that has broken down, but find themselves getting upset when they don't agree with the response they get. This is a peer support forum, meaning we are not mental health professionals. We are people of all ages and backgrounds, with a wide range of life experiences. While we aim for our discussions to be conducted respectfully, people here will respond with the truth as they see it, from their own experiences and perspectives. We are not here to take sides. Offence is almost never intentional, but it can be sometimes taken. The advice you will see here is not intended to be a substitute for professional counselling. 3. What other support do you have? Most people posting on our forums (about any issue) use this space as a supplement to other supports. This forum is not and cannot be a substitute for offline supports, but it is often a good place to start the ball rolling and find the courage for seeking help. If you are relying solely on an internet forum to resolve your relationship or family issues, you are likely to be disappointed. Check out the Healthy Homes section of our Healthy Families website for further information and resources.

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Missy580 Help
  • replies: 27

Hi guys, I need some advice. My ex and I were together for a year and a half and broke up 5 months ago. The connection we had together started to fade and I found that the person he was at the beginning of the relationship also started to fade. When ... View more

Hi guys, I need some advice. My ex and I were together for a year and a half and broke up 5 months ago. The connection we had together started to fade and I found that the person he was at the beginning of the relationship also started to fade. When the relationship came to a end we both accepted that the timing wasn’t right for us. In the last 5 months he has frequently contacted me with the “ I miss you” and “ can we talk”. Out of the numerous times, I have each time given him the chance to talk to me and meet up with him. Recently he asked to meet and we both decided to take things slow and see how it goes before getting back together. Then the next day he suddenly changed his mind saying his “confused”. I have been dealing with him coming in and out of my life and getting my hopes up each time. I know this isn’t good for me but why can’t I let go? how can his mind change so suddenly overnight?

Ty95 Girlfriend cheated with best mate of 10yrs
  • replies: 5

Hi guys I’m a 24 year old male. ill keep this as short as possible. I just found out couple days after New Years that my girlfriend cheated on me for my best friend on several occasions. i can’t understand how people that are suppose to be your most ... View more

Hi guys I’m a 24 year old male. ill keep this as short as possible. I just found out couple days after New Years that my girlfriend cheated on me for my best friend on several occasions. i can’t understand how people that are suppose to be your most loved and trusted ones can do that behind your back and still be so comfortable hanging out on the daily. I am a nice guy and without sounding up myself decent looking. I went through serious depression over my ex who cheated on me years ago but this time I haven’t felt bad at all. Ive just felt a bit angry and betrayed but cutting my best mate out of my life who was like a brother to me for half my life has been so easy. I don’t know if I’m just numb or if my brain is doing it’s thing to protect itself. After that bad depression a few years ago. I’m not sure if it’s healthy to not feel and I hope someone can relate or shed a bit of light for me. Life can be so rough sometimes and bad things definitely happen to good people but don’t let that change you. thanks guys.

Hot_Mess What should I do?!?
  • replies: 2

Hi, I really need some advise and help on what I should do. I have been married for 18 years and we have 3 daughters together ranging from 13 to 20. The oldest moved out 2 years ago, so we only have 2 at home. I have suffered from depression and anxi... View more

Hi, I really need some advise and help on what I should do. I have been married for 18 years and we have 3 daughters together ranging from 13 to 20. The oldest moved out 2 years ago, so we only have 2 at home. I have suffered from depression and anxiety for majority of our marriage. I also suffer from severe chronic sciatica due to a back injury. We have been having the same issues for over 10 years which causes many arguments. The main issue being that we have never been a team with raising the girls, I am too hard and he is too soft. I have always admitted this fault in myself and begged him to work together to find a middle ground, but he never has. Instead we have no rules, no structure, and majority of the time I am left ignored by the children when asked to do things like that I know normal family expect of there own children. As a result I do get angry and I do yell, I’m the first to admit that this is wrong but after 10+ plus years of trying to make my family work I have had enough. My husband gets angry with me which I deserve but he insults me all the time and has also allowed our middle daughter to get involved in our arguments and also insult me too. I honestly get told off more than the children do and about the same things he lets them get away with. All this happens in front of the children The things that have been said too me are horrible. Things like your mental, psycho, no wonder your father hit you, no wonder your father tried to kill himself. He tells me that I make people not love me and after a recent argument he even looked me outside while I had a smoke and said stay outside you dog. When we make up and I explain to him why I’m so angry time and time again he tells me he’s trying his best and when I ask why he insults me he says because you make me angry. He makes me feel like I deserve it and that I’m worthless. what should I do I’m a mess? (Sorry for the long post, I needed to tell the full story)

DawnS I just need someone to talk to
  • replies: 6

Okay, my story isn’t as tragic or traumatic as some of the other people here’s, but yesterday my mother (48F) and I (12F) called the non-emergency line in our state to get an ambulance to come pick her up. She had really bad swelling on one side of h... View more

Okay, my story isn’t as tragic or traumatic as some of the other people here’s, but yesterday my mother (48F) and I (12F) called the non-emergency line in our state to get an ambulance to come pick her up. She had really bad swelling on one side of her face, (her eye was swollen shut) and a cracking headache coupled with a ~38 degree fever (100.4 for Americans). She took all the headache tablets and fever tablets and cold-and-flu tablets that she could safely, but after about a day of this, she started throwing up whenever she tried to take another tablet. This had been going on since the afternoon we drove home from Brisbane (we drove home Friday, she had a sore neck Friday evening, Saturday she woke up with a bad headache and a really stiff neck, and Sunday the neck stiffness was gone but the swelling was really bad and so was the headache and fever). Once the ambulance got us to hospital, Mum was admitted into a temporary ward. The doctors, after administering a CT scan, diagnosed it as a skin Staph Infection (Cellulitis). We would have driven ourselves but due to a cataract years ago she can only really see out of one eye, and the swelling shut her good eye. She also couldn’t get her glasses on her face with the amount of swelling anyways. Later on yesterday afternoon (Sunday, and roughly 11pm), they transferred her into a proper ward so she was out of the emergency room. I was picked up by my aunt who then took me home, and I slept over at her place. I’m going home later this afternoon, but I’ll be home completely alone (It’s fine I’m a pretty responsible kid). I just got a text from Mum saying she’ll still be there for a few more days... which will probably include Christmas Day itself. I just really don’t know how to feel- I feel so alone already- I can’t even connect with any of my friends over anything- me and my BFF normally talk over email but she hasn’t responded to a single email since Friday... please... I just want someone to talk to.

StaticGhost I can't cope while my boyfriend is away.
  • replies: 1

I have severe separation anxiety with my boyfriend, whenever he has to leave me, I get extremely depressed. After finding out he is leaving I immediately start to breakdown. I begin screaming my lungs out and crying uncontrollably. This continues on ... View more

I have severe separation anxiety with my boyfriend, whenever he has to leave me, I get extremely depressed. After finding out he is leaving I immediately start to breakdown. I begin screaming my lungs out and crying uncontrollably. This continues on for an extremely long time. Ever since I was little I've always sort of clung to people, I would cling to my friends at school, my parents, my sisters, and now with my boyfriend. I have a huge fear of abandonment and have been abandoned in the past by one of my friends, this is what triggered my fear and depression. I can't live like this anymore, I feel like this is putting a strain on my relationship with my boyfriend. I love my boyfriend so much but right now, he is the only person I feel comfortable around and that just feels wrong. I never spend time with anyone else because I only want to be around him. It's like I have an obsession with him. Things can't go on like this.

ineedmyfamily i feel like i cant cope i need serious help
  • replies: 1

i dont even know where to begin i have had negative from my partner who is in family court with her ex partner. we got together as a couple almost immidiatly and i know it has made him try and distrupt our lives through munipulation and family court.... View more

i dont even know where to begin i have had negative from my partner who is in family court with her ex partner. we got together as a couple almost immidiatly and i know it has made him try and distrupt our lives through munipulation and family court. we have just had an absolutly beautiful baby girl absolultly fills my heart. Today my partner was forced to sign a bind restricting me from talking to my partners kids at all who are 7 and 10 both girls. the only time i can see my daughter is every second friday night cause my partners ex refuses to want anymore time hense to keep my partner from fines she cant afford and be charged with contempt of court i will be homeless. i feel like im going to lose that time she wil forget who her dad is

Lost_star Sexless marriage - trigger warning (sexual abuse)
  • replies: 2

Hi, I've been married for 20yrs. My husband and I had a great sex life until we got married. He was the always too tired. He stopped kissing me, other than a hello or goodbye peck. He rejected all forms of my seduction or initiatives of sex. I began ... View more

Hi, I've been married for 20yrs. My husband and I had a great sex life until we got married. He was the always too tired. He stopped kissing me, other than a hello or goodbye peck. He rejected all forms of my seduction or initiatives of sex. I began to get depressed. My history with sex has been difficult. Raped at age 13, married at 20, raped and abused through 10yr marriage, then meeting the most amazing man who made love so beautifully..getting married to him..then here I am. I just don't know what to do any more.

Mark247 Stuck in an abusive home
  • replies: 24

After a long abusive marriage I have managed to separate from my wife. Unfortunately I am now stuck in the same house with her. No physical abuse, but emotional, psychological and financial abuse. We cannot agree on a property settlement and she has ... View more

After a long abusive marriage I have managed to separate from my wife. Unfortunately I am now stuck in the same house with her. No physical abuse, but emotional, psychological and financial abuse. We cannot agree on a property settlement and she has all our money so I can't afford to move out unless I agree to her terms, which are unfair and she knows it. She knows I can't leave. I have a solicitor, but it will take 12 to 18 months to drag her through the court. Apart from the financial cost, I cannot imagine how I will cope with 18 months of this. I am already fearful that my life is at risk. My solicitor says that the Family Court won't care about the abuse, and besides it is too hard to prove anyway. I have tried many agencies and they all agree that the abuse should come into it, but I keep hitting dead ends. If I were female with bruises I would have a case. There appear to be very few avenues for men. Help!

fireheartt My Partner shuts me out whenever he feels low about himself.
  • replies: 2

I've been with my partner for almost a year now, in a nutshell our relationships is really good, we spend a lot of time together, we have fun, we're chill and easy going and all in all its good, we've had communication issues before but we both agree... View more

I've been with my partner for almost a year now, in a nutshell our relationships is really good, we spend a lot of time together, we have fun, we're chill and easy going and all in all its good, we've had communication issues before but we both agreed to try to be better, we don't have any arguments, any disagreements we have we sit and talk through it, we don't raise our voices at each other, we just talk it out and we both love each other deeply. In the year we've been together there have been 3 instances where he has shut me out. The first time I had told him something that I found out about myself and he freaked out and needed time and space away from me, the second he felt bad about himself, he didn't understand how i could love a person like him and he shut me out and needed space and then there is this time. When he gets to a certain point he tends to want to run, break up, because he thinks I deserve better and it hurts me because it feels like for him its easier to just leave than to want to be better, then to want more, it's easier for him to be alone so that's what he keeps falling back to. This 3rd instance is worst, he feels horrible about himself and disappointed of what he had done and the look on his face the next day was of utter defeat and he thinks its better if we break up, I don't want him to dig himself into a hole and stay there because it's better to be alone and his done it all his life, I'm his partner and I want to stand by him and work through things with him, but he won't let me in, he keeps shutting me out as if any decisions or emotions he has only affect him and only his wishes needs to be respected and not mine. I don't know what to do or how much time he needs, he says he needs to think things through but I worry if given to much time the negative thoughts his having will fester and grow into something much worst, and all of this is very difficult for me, I can't manage to do anything my heart feels heavy.

Orange_Rose My husband wants to transition into a woman
  • replies: 3

I have been married for 6 years. 2 months ago my husband told me he had only recently worked out he should have been born a woman. He said the only reason he was able to understand this feeling was because he was so happy with life (even though he ha... View more

I have been married for 6 years. 2 months ago my husband told me he had only recently worked out he should have been born a woman. He said the only reason he was able to understand this feeling was because he was so happy with life (even though he has depression). He said he wanted to stay with me. I did not react well. I became someone I didn't know. For almost 2 months we had constant fights. I yelled at him and said some very horrible things. He swore at me, he started to become self absorbed, distant and disengaged. I went to counselling and as per advice created boundaries. He got upset with boundaries, so we stopped. Before this, our marriage was full of love, honesty, support, loyalty, kindness and laughter. We constantly joked we were still in the honeymoon phase. We brought out the best in each other. His family even said that before me he was very sad, lonely and quiet. I never knew that man. I helped build his confidence. 2 days after Christmas he moved out because he said he needed a break. We have only spoken a couple of times since and after our last conversation he said he felt ambushed even though it was only about our finances during the break. Going forward he has asked I text him what I want to talk about first before we have a call the following day. He wants time to consider his response. Seeing me isn't going to help. He said he no longer feels the same about me as when we first met and at this point, he thinks he doesn't want to be married to me however given we have both been through a very emotional time he doesn't want to make a rash unwise decision. The break will continue until he has spoken with his psychiatrist (which may take several few weeks). After he left, I wrote him a letter apologising for everything I said and that I loved him and I think I could stay with him as a woman (despite the fact I'm straight). I feel like I have done everything I can to take responsibility for my actions. He has not shown any remorse. He has been hypocritical with his demands (i.e. I have to instantly accept who he is but he can't accept who I am at my worst) and has shut me out. I love him and want to work this out. I don't know what to do. 6 years of joy apparently means nothing nor does for better or worse. I think he believes if you don't have butterflies in your stomach for a fleeting moment, you no longer love that person. This has been our first major issue. We have no kids but intended to start IVF (his sperm was the issue).