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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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Maa I am depressed because daughter is emotionally abused
  • replies: 2

My husband has been inflicting emotional abuse in my teenage daughter for years. I have two boys but he never targets them when he’s angry. I always thought he’s a short tempered person because every time after the abuse he would be sorry for his act... View more

My husband has been inflicting emotional abuse in my teenage daughter for years. I have two boys but he never targets them when he’s angry. I always thought he’s a short tempered person because every time after the abuse he would be sorry for his actions and for few weeks or months things would be normal. Now my daughter is showing signs of depression and hates her father. She’s seeing a psychologist who told her that she’s been emotionally abused. I can now join the dots and can see clearly that he’s an abusive person not someone who gets angry quickly as he’s amazing and very sweet natured with others. I don’t want to leave my husband because he loves me and the kids. He is aware of his behavior but still blames my daughter for bring over sensitive. I think I am depressed because of this situation. Though my husband has agreed to go for therapy and he’s trying to change himself for better but I feel sad all the time. I feel that the love inside me has died. I am crying whenever I am alone, have lost interest in everything. I just see my beautiful family crumbling right in front of my eyes. I has never hit me or my daughter but has been intimidating several times. Do domestic violence perpetrators get better with treatment or do I have to live with it. I don’t know what to do, all I know is I don’t want my daughter to suffer or my family to break. Can someone in similar situation give some advice

Chickem100 Seriously confused
  • replies: 2

Hi Friends, This is my 2nd post about a particular issue with a friend of mine. Firstly I'm 38 happily married with one wonderful child, I have a good job and generally speaking am in a good place most of the time, some ups and downs but nothing to s... View more

Hi Friends, This is my 2nd post about a particular issue with a friend of mine. Firstly I'm 38 happily married with one wonderful child, I have a good job and generally speaking am in a good place most of the time, some ups and downs but nothing to serious. Now the issue I have here is this year I've made a wonderful new friend through work, we've become great friends and share pretty much everything together. She's 10 years younger than me, single and if I'm being brutally honest someone who in a different time I would of pursued a relationship with (that sentence is very hard for to me to write and admit to) Now I have no intention of following up those feelings as it would ruin my lovely family and my friendship with her, neither of which I want. The other end of this is when she talk about dating. as I said we share a lot and she asks me for advice and what I think about this guy etc etc. Now this has been fine but now it's really eating at me, for one reason I worry she'll find someone and forget about me and our friendship and the other I must admit which is hard I think is jealousy. I obviously value this friendship very much and want to be able to put the other stuff to one side but I'm struggling at this point in time, I'm putting on a brave face at home and trying all I can to not have this knot in my stomach. Any advice going forward would be much appreciated. Thankyou for taking the time to read this and I hope you all have a lovely day.

Quiettall Feeling sad, confused, cheated
  • replies: 2

I have been married for 16 years. In the last few years my wife has been very secretive about money she has held yet demands to know everything about what I earn, spend and what money we have in the joint accounts. I retired about 5 years ago and too... View more

I have been married for 16 years. In the last few years my wife has been very secretive about money she has held yet demands to know everything about what I earn, spend and what money we have in the joint accounts. I retired about 5 years ago and took all the funds out of the super accounts I had accumulated and put into our joint SMSF., making sure that at least 65% was in her name to ensure she was looked after, as she had very little super. When her Mum died, she was left some $180,000 5 years ago which has now grown to about $220k. Yet she has not contributed one cent of it to our joint household. We have been living on savings which are quickly running out. She still demands we have an annual overseas holiday and her medical bills go on our joint account. When I start to draw on the SMSF next year it will come from my share to cover our living expenses, unless she tips in some of her own funds she has withheld or withdraws some from her share of the SMSF (she will pay tax because she is not able to do this for 3 years). I am feeling very bewildered and concerned recently at her attitude about money. I am feeling very uncomfortable about raising this with her because she gets very high and mighty when I challenge her on anything. Am I being a bit petty and stupid? I am concerned about equity in the relationship

BananaSmuvie Greif Pushing Us Apart
  • replies: 4

My fiance and I have been together for over a year. A good portion of it was long distance, although I recently moved back as a close family member was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I wanted to be there to support her. It's been a challenging ti... View more

My fiance and I have been together for over a year. A good portion of it was long distance, although I recently moved back as a close family member was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I wanted to be there to support her. It's been a challenging time, but our relationship has been filled with a lot of love. That said, she is more of a secure-anxious attachment style, whereas I am secure-avoidant - when we do argue, I tend to ignore feelings and sweep things under the rug, where she's very emotional and I unknowingly shut her down. Unfortunately since the passing of her close family member, she has become very depressed. However, she's been very great at hiding it and pretending that everything is fine and although I may not have been giving her the full emotional support she needs, I just assumed everything was fine and she was moving forward. We had a argument last weekend over something silly that escalated into me pushing her away and increasing her anxiety. As usual the next day I acted like everything was fine, but it wasn't. She's now told me that she has been extremely unhappy for a while but just didn't talk because she was afraid. She doesn't know what she wants, but knows she needs to mend and deal with everything that's happened and find her happiness again after her loss. I am confused as we don't have a toxic relationship and there is a lot of love from both sides - the main issue is when we do argue that I am the typical alpha male who gets angry and doesn't express feelings, and she's the loving female with a lot of emotion. All I genuinely want is for her to be happy and mend. Obviously I feel her depression is affecting her thoughts and decisions, and that the grief has her feeling numb, lost and confused and just focusing on the negatives. Last week we were planning a wedding and family, this week she wants out. She said she still loves me and cares, and I have been there through her darkest days but she's just not sure we have a future any more which is a hard pill to swallow. Any tips or advice would be much appreciated. I love and care for her very much, but am giving her space and hoping for the best. Thanks

JessicaS Relationship concerns seem irreconcilable?
  • replies: 1

Hi all, sorry for the long post... My husband and I have been together for 7 years, married for 5. When we got together I had some concerns because we have very different interests - I love travel, art, museums, books and going out, he loves camping,... View more

Hi all, sorry for the long post... My husband and I have been together for 7 years, married for 5. When we got together I had some concerns because we have very different interests - I love travel, art, museums, books and going out, he loves camping, the bush, 4WDs and fishing etc. But I would go camping with him and enjoyed it (for 1 or 2 days haha), and I thought because we each had large groups of friends, we could handle that by having our own lives and then coming together for things we both enjoyed.5 years on, that was not a good idea. We have moved since to a semi-rural area an hour away from our friends, and our lives have grown completely apart. He is also drinking 6-10 beers every day which I think is contributing to this. I have told him so many times that I am lonely, and miserable, and want to make more efforts. He always agrees, then never follows through with plans...either he is hungover or tired or his back hurts or something will come up. We also have had a few discussions about housework, and he always says he will make more efforts, does for a few days and then stops. I do basically all of our housework. We have tried to spend more time together, but we just don't like doing the same things, so it is always a compromise. And a lot of the time, it feels like we have nothing to talk about. He came with me to Europe last year and enjoyed it but that just emphasised our differences again, because we really didn't want to do the same things at all. I've suggested he may be depressed because he doesn't seem engaged with life and is drinking, he says he will seek help but then doesn't. If it wasn't for one thing, this would seem like we clearly shouldn't be together, nothing is really working. But he is such a sweet, funny and kind man, and he really, really loves me. He tells me all the time, he looks at me like I'm the most beautiful woman in the world, and he is always complimenting and being sweet to me. And we don't really fight, maybe once every 6 months or so we have a big discussion about issues that can get a bit heated but not really arguing. We hug each other all the time, and our friends would say we are the model relationship. But I feel so lonely. However I can't imagine hurting him by leaving him, because he has nobody else really since he's drifted away from his friends. So occasionally, I consider suicide as the best way out. And I don't think that's normal and I don't know what to do or how to talk to him about this.

Brie_l My anxiety is made worse by my partners communication
  • replies: 2

My boyfriend has depression and I have anxiety. He’s in a bad place at the moment and when he is like this he is cold and distant. I try to be there for him, but I don’t know what the right thing to do is and he won’t talk to me about anything. I try... View more

My boyfriend has depression and I have anxiety. He’s in a bad place at the moment and when he is like this he is cold and distant. I try to be there for him, but I don’t know what the right thing to do is and he won’t talk to me about anything. I try so hard to tell myself the way he is acting is because of his depression, but it sets off my anxiety really badly. I constantly worry that I’m doing the wrong thing to an irrational point where I’ll keep asking if I’m doing something wrong and I can’t believe him when he says no because he too often won’t address a problem he has with me until way after it has happened. So often I will think everything is fine between us but then will find out that he is really upset or angry at me for something I didn’t even realise was a problem. So I can’t settle my anxiety about me doing the wrong thing by telling myself that it’s all in my head like I do about other things I’m anxious about, because it’s not, I do keep doing things wrong and I never know until it’s too late. I feel like I’m always walking on eggshells because I cant distinguish between what small things will make him angry and what is just normal communication. It feels like he wants me to read his mind of what he expects of me and I’m constantly confused, anxious, and exhausted. When I have tried addressing the problem it seems it always gets twisted in someway or it makes his self loathing worse and I just don’t know what to do. I love him so much and I really want to find a solution.

Asurazzy Worry about my 2 little girls.
  • replies: 3

Hello! I'm Asurazzy. I've been married with my husband for a year. I inherited 2 little girls from his previous relationship 10 yo and an 8 yo. We also have a 3.5 months old baby girl together. He is a very good husband and father and I could never b... View more

Hello! I'm Asurazzy. I've been married with my husband for a year. I inherited 2 little girls from his previous relationship 10 yo and an 8 yo. We also have a 3.5 months old baby girl together. He is a very good husband and father and I could never been so blessed by having 3 beautiful daughters. We have joint 50-50 custody with the 2 girls birth mother, switching about 3 days between homes. The homes distances are quite near. The 2 girls birth mother claimed to suffered from depression and claimed the disability for it. Several times she threaten to kill herself in front of the childern and upset them. She tries to manipulate the childern emotion and it causes them big stress especially to the eldest one. We reported her to the police and my husband told me he already reported her to the child service but nothing can be done because there is no court order. So many times I asked him to fight in court for full costudy. My husband said it will be futile, it will cost a lot of money, the long court process will damage the girls and at the end it will go back to 50-50 status quo costudy. He just want to wait until the 2 girls come to age to decide themselves with whom they want to stay full time. This morning I send the girls to school, in the afternoon they will have to go back to their birth mother's house and will not go back to us until Saturday morning. I can see clearly the eldest one try to hide her stress, worry and pain in her eyes. She was very uneasy. I am overcome by guilt as if I send both of them to suffer. In my head I was thinking until when we have to wait?? Do we need something really bad happened to them to take action? If something bad ever happened to those 2 girls I can not forgive myself or my husband knowing that there is possibility we can prevent that but we chose not to. I have another worry that their birth mother also likes to claim that the childern are sick so she can keep on treating them. She claimed the girls have asthma, near sighted, appendicitis, measles, etc. In her house she always pump antibiotics and medicines. I am feeling so helpless...I feel I'm just their fathers wife, it's their dad that have the last say. I love the girls so much, they are my girls as well. They are innocent kind souls. Staring at my baby 3.5 months girl sleep soundly here always make me think of them hoping that they will always be allright and safe in the other house. I don't know what to do.

JayceC Wife will not allow me to go to gym or eat well
  • replies: 3

I have a problem. My wife works away for months on end. When away i joined gym and modified my eating habits. I used to be an athlete until Leukemia (which i survived) but have put on weight and have associated health problems. Now my wife is back I ... View more

I have a problem. My wife works away for months on end. When away i joined gym and modified my eating habits. I used to be an athlete until Leukemia (which i survived) but have put on weight and have associated health problems. Now my wife is back I joined her as well and she went 3 times with me. I wanted to do together. Now, even if i want to go and she does not, she points out an endless list of things she wants me to do and gets really angry if i want to go to gym. She has also started doubling my food portions and baking foods, buying ice cream, chocolates and junk, insisting i eat them and getting very loud and aggressive if i do not. I have been monitoring this as i thought i may be paranoid, but it is in fact the case. Short of just walking out and going to gym and flat out refusing to eat junk (which i do not enjoy and feel sick), I do not know what to do. I have real health issues and this will kill me.

Slippers Trying my best.
  • replies: 3

I bought an expensive present for my Mum and the family has shared the cost so the one present is from everyone. I told my immediate family by text message what I had done and as far as I was concerned everyone was happy and that was that. I also org... View more

I bought an expensive present for my Mum and the family has shared the cost so the one present is from everyone. I told my immediate family by text message what I had done and as far as I was concerned everyone was happy and that was that. I also organised lunch for the whole family in a restaurant east enough for everyone to get to. I got a message from a family member asking what was going on, what are the details of the party. I was surprised since I had already given them out to everyone. The family member responded that I didn’t care for them; I tried to tell that I loved them but I felt telling them by text message was so impersonal. This tangent surprised me; I thought we were talking about the family get together and gift. The family member and I have had a rocky relationship. I have made mistakes in the past but I had tried to make good. I feel that deep down they are holding onto the anger from what I did before and there is nothing I can say or do to fix it. I was told that other family members meet up regularly and I was asked why I didn’t do this. I was going to respond by saying that “any relationship is a two way street” but this I feel would’ve have put gasoline on the bon fire And it may seem impersonal that I speak about the person as a 3rd party, this is a survival mechanism in case they read this message on the forums. I feel like I am putting this on this forums to gauge responses and was there anything more I could do or could've done things better. I am trying to look after my mental health as well Slippers

Guest_598 Closure through meeting with ex?
  • replies: 12

Hi there, my partner, who separated from his wife ten months ago, is still carrying around a lot of anger and resentment for his wife. To move past this and progress through the grief, he has decided that he needs to meet and talk with her. She lives... View more

Hi there, my partner, who separated from his wife ten months ago, is still carrying around a lot of anger and resentment for his wife. To move past this and progress through the grief, he has decided that he needs to meet and talk with her. She lives in a different state but is going to come to meet with him for two days this weekend. He has been very open and honest about it with me. He said, he is uncomfortable and worried because he is concerned that he will get angry and flip out (which would not help working through the anger effectively) and he wants to set boundaries. I think it sounds good and healthy, although there is a bit of fear that he may become nostalgic or she may try to remind them of all the great things only. He said that the last time he met her, he did not feel any longing and did not feel attracted to her either. I hope it stays that way, we are very good with each other. We constantly laugh and I know he cares about me. So I am hoping that he will progress as he is planning but I am worried about whether two days is a bit long. Usually, you would meet up with someone, chat and part ways. But she will be there for two ways, what if it turns badly? Wouldn't that be counterproductive? Or what if she gives him a feeling of normality because she visits him in their marital home. I am scared that he may get more confused or that he may become too nostalgic and give in to a ghost of a relationship that does not really exist anymore. Do you have any experience of spending that long together to find closure or at least the ability to move on and clear the air? I don't know what to expect after those two days. We will meet and talk but I am scared about the outcome. The signs look like he doesn't see going back as an option but I also don't want him to get stuck even more than he already says he is.