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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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Summer_Time_Rain Homesickness/Separation Anxiety as an Adult.
  • replies: 1

I moved out of home this time last year (to a different state) and really struggled with homesickness. It has now been 12 months and I thought the homesickness would have pasted, but it honestly feels exactly the same as when I first left. I feel lik... View more

I moved out of home this time last year (to a different state) and really struggled with homesickness. It has now been 12 months and I thought the homesickness would have pasted, but it honestly feels exactly the same as when I first left. I feel like crying when I'm alone and think about home or my family, I have nightmares and trouble sleeping and often feel super anxious for no reason. Part of me is telling myself to go home because I will be alot happier there, however I will be giving up a massive career pathway. I don't want to leave if this homesickness phase will end but at this current point in time I can't see myself being happy here. I live everyday counting down til the next time I get to go home or see my family again, which I feel is an unhealthy way of living - Counting down rather than enjoying every day as it comes. Has anyone experienced this and found ways of over coming it, or any general tips to making my days a bit brighter? Thank you!

Bec2014 Partner always away for work, stress taking a toll on relationship and mental health
  • replies: 1

Hi everyone, my husband travels a lot for work, domestically at least twice a week and internationally about five times a year. I’m a self-employed mum who works at home while looking after our two-year-old, and another baby on the way. Husband has j... View more

Hi everyone, my husband travels a lot for work, domestically at least twice a week and internationally about five times a year. I’m a self-employed mum who works at home while looking after our two-year-old, and another baby on the way. Husband has just returned from two weeks abroad and I have found it extremely difficult on my own. Our two year old is going through a rough patch and not sleeping, which in turn means I have sleep deprivation and that seems to make my morning sickness worse. As such, I haven’t been able to complete work and deadlines are piling up. He’s come home and just completely oblivious (or unwilling to see) that I am extremely rundown, and this happens after most trips. Our intimacy is non-existent and I often feel alone. Because I freelance and work largely from home, he really doesn’t take my employment seriously (as I’m also not breadwinner), but the work is more for my mental balance than anything! He maintains that he truly does believe in an equal parenting balance, but it doesn’t happen. I do all the running around and am left to do work in whatever night hours I can steal at the moment. When my husband is home, he’ll be on his computer catching up on work. I’ve sat down with him several times to explain my health is affected and I’d appreciate a cut down on work travel, at which point he gets defensive and quite sulky. I’m well aware there are other parents In his company and flexibility would be available if he asked for it. I am absolutely terrified at the thought of not being able to handle two children and as such, feel incredibly incompetent. I’ve also suggested counselling but admittedly there’s been no follow-through from either of us. Thank you to those who have read my rambling thus far. I’m just trying to get some advice on partners in a similar situation - how did you make the parenting balance truly equal for both of you? I do find it quite hard at the moment and the lack of balance or respect for my needs is really making me resentful and I do worry that I might be better off alone. I’d hate for our relationship to end on account of his work. thank you

Courtlee Feeling out of place and relationship troubles with my mum
  • replies: 1

So I have recently enrolled in to tafe and it will take up 5 days a week from 9 to 5. Leaving me with only the weekends to work. Before enrolling I asked my mum if I could live with her until tafe has finished(6 months). Now all of a sudden she has t... View more

So I have recently enrolled in to tafe and it will take up 5 days a week from 9 to 5. Leaving me with only the weekends to work. Before enrolling I asked my mum if I could live with her until tafe has finished(6 months). Now all of a sudden she has told me that she is planning to move to a 2 bedroom house that will only fit her and my sister. It’s made me really upset as I always feel like she loves my sister way more than me and does not care about my feelings or me at all. It has really upset me and I don’t know what to do about it. I would not have started to study if I knew she was going to move and I thought she should of let me know before I started my course and made a life changing decision.

Sufferinginsilence Not sure what to do
  • replies: 4

This is my first time reaching out like this. Not sure what to do, long story short my wife has family in NSW we lived in WA. She wanted to be closer to her family we went to visit over christmas and in that time she accepted a transfer and stayed th... View more

This is my first time reaching out like this. Not sure what to do, long story short my wife has family in NSW we lived in WA. She wanted to be closer to her family we went to visit over christmas and in that time she accepted a transfer and stayed there with my 2 kids 2 year old and a nearly 1 year old. We had planned to move together but instead she decided to move straight away. A week after i got to perth I recieved a really long text message saying that she has decided that she no longer wants to be with me anymore and its not worth doing long distance. I have tried to work this out. Now because of this i very intermitantely get to speak to my kids. She rings me every night just to keep the peace. It seems like she had planned this and not told me. If i want to see my kids i have to move over east to try and reconcile things, its crushing me as we were happy while on holiday. When i call her she is always "busy" and i just recieve one word answers to everything. I cant move until april but im at a loss what to do. I love her but it seems like she doesnt love me anymore.

Toretto Marriage failing because of cheating wife
  • replies: 14

Hi, i've been with my wife for over 21 years and we have a large family together. It's been 2 years since her last affair and i still can't lose the bad memories / thoughts and end up feeling anxious and depressed. And 2 years later i'm still on anti... View more

Hi, i've been with my wife for over 21 years and we have a large family together. It's been 2 years since her last affair and i still can't lose the bad memories / thoughts and end up feeling anxious and depressed. And 2 years later i'm still on anti depressants because of her. She has cheated on me twice that i know of. The last time was the worst and has affected me the most (she still works at the same place as him). We went to marriage counselling and individual counselling for about 6 months to try and get past it. We stopped counselling as she said that she'd had enough and we didn't need it anymore. I know the old saying "once a cheater, always a cheater" and i can definitely see that, as it's already happened twice that i know of. I'm at a point where i don't want to put myself all out there for our relationship as i don't want to get hurt like that again. I've been trying to distance myself from her a little and she has noticed that i've been acting "different". Now she is constantly tagging me in social media posts and photos and trying to be nice. I really dont know what to do. We have a large family with mortgage, loans, etc, etc. so i know it's going to be very messy. She is the type who will take me for everything and be really nasty. Thanks

Bee1998 Boyfriend Is Paying For Nudes
  • replies: 9

So, I have been with my boyfriend for just over 2 years now , and throughout the second year of our relationship, I have caught him paying for nudes behind my back. His excuse is always , “that wasn’t me”, or “that was ages ago”. He thinks it doesn’t... View more

So, I have been with my boyfriend for just over 2 years now , and throughout the second year of our relationship, I have caught him paying for nudes behind my back. His excuse is always , “that wasn’t me”, or “that was ages ago”. He thinks it doesn’t matter because it didn’t happen on the day I caught him. even before we started dating I expressed very clearly how I feel about porn in a relationship, and that if he wanted to watch it , that’s fine, but I didn’t want to be put through that. Regardless of me expressing how I feel about the matter, he still went and did it behind my back. Not once, not twice, heaps of times.... I just can’t get my head around it, as there is so much FREE porn on the internet, so why would anyone go out of their way to PAY for nudes...???? I don’t get it. It’s more personal , and a way bigger deal to me, as I see this as a form of cheating. i know I should leave him, but I can’t help but think and feel that I’ve wasted 2 years of my life , but throwing it away. Has anyone else been through something similar/is going through this right now? I need help

WinnieBear Binge Drinking Partner
  • replies: 8

Hi everyone, Thanks for clicking on this post. My boyfriend (mid 40s) loves to drink on weekends and does so regularly. It's so bad that he can't just have a few and really binges. He has told me before that he knows he shouldn't drink so much, but a... View more

Hi everyone, Thanks for clicking on this post. My boyfriend (mid 40s) loves to drink on weekends and does so regularly. It's so bad that he can't just have a few and really binges. He has told me before that he knows he shouldn't drink so much, but at the same time he doesnt stop. We live together, but it's at a point where I would rather he go out so I don't have to see him in a drunken state. I wait until he calls, pick him up and help him get into bed. I'm sure I'm enabling some how, but I don't know what to do. Should I make him find his own way home, look after myself on the weekends. I just don't know what to do, I don't really know what I'm trying to say... Appreciate any advice or to chat with those going through the same. Thanks

AnyAdvice76 Advice on partner abusing medication
  • replies: 1

Hi all, I am new on here and very nervous to write this. I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for almost 8 years now and everything has been going very well, we would rarely argue, it would always be smiles and laughs wherever we go and we... View more

Hi all, I am new on here and very nervous to write this. I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for almost 8 years now and everything has been going very well, we would rarely argue, it would always be smiles and laughs wherever we go and we have never had any real issues with anything. In July 2019 he was advised by a psychiatrist that he has ADHD in which he accepted but the psychiatrist had also prescribed him medication. In the first week my partner wasnt sure it was for him and said it made him feel "high" and very odd, so he went back to the psychiatrist a week later and the psychiatrist advised him to take a lesser dose for a few weeks in which he did. A few weeks later he upped the dose himself as he said he wasnt "feeling anything" and he said it felt like the tablets werent working for him. Since upping his dose he has noticed that it is working and it makes him awake and concentrated and able to do things. It has now gotten to the stage where he takes so much of it (i cant actually tell you how much as he keeps this info away from me now) and i dont know who he is anymore. He has major mood swings and is very very aggressive towards me. He is not physically abusive but mentally, he calls me horrible names and everything is my fault. If i cant find something within a minute for him he will snap and get very aggressive. He will never stop to look for things himself but always rely on me (this was never the case) he does not communicate with me anymore, we could be in the car for an hour and he wont say a word but when i try and start a conversation he will completely ignore me and act like i didnt say anything so i end up sitting there all quite and dont say anything back. He will do things that he knows i hate now but its more the aggression that gets me upset, i feel we are no longer in a relationship and i have tried multiple times to speak to him about how i feel but he gets so angry about anything that comes out of my mouth so i just keep quite. We do not go to places together anymore, we do not laugh or smile around each other, in fact he has actually said to me that i make him agitated but i could be doing absolutely nothing. I leave him alone most times now, i dont even try and speak to him about anything. I am noticing he is taking his pills a lot more regularly through the day like almost every 1-2 hours. He has lost copious amounts of weight and always looks very run down. I would appreciate any comments

Oscar93 Feeling ashamed of debt, trying to move forward.
  • replies: 3

Hi all. Just wanted to lighten the mental load by sharing some troubles I've been having around debt and relationships. Basically over the years I have racked up a large HECS-Help debt through unsuccessful university study. It's something that I find... View more

Hi all. Just wanted to lighten the mental load by sharing some troubles I've been having around debt and relationships. Basically over the years I have racked up a large HECS-Help debt through unsuccessful university study. It's something that I find difficult to talk about, I really do feel ashamed that I have this debt with nothing to show for it - I did not pass many units at all. After a couple of years working full time I am in a better headspace and have a strong sense of what direction I would like to go on. I think that I am capable of doing a degree and it's a goal very important to me, but I don't know how I could ask for the support of my partner when I have made poor choices in the past and already a large study debt. Does anyone have any advice on how to share something with a partner that you find so difficult to talk about? Thanks for reading.

Journee Fallout
  • replies: 1

Hi I’m new here but hope you understand. Fair warning lol pity party ahead....My hubbie died suddenly 8 years ago and things have gone from bad to worse. At first my 4 adult children were so supportive and couldn’t do enough to help me but now things... View more

Hi I’m new here but hope you understand. Fair warning lol pity party ahead....My hubbie died suddenly 8 years ago and things have gone from bad to worse. At first my 4 adult children were so supportive and couldn’t do enough to help me but now things are so different. My eldest daughter has turned on me totally and now at the age of 32 has told me that she doesn’t want me in her life anymore and that she’s never felt my love and warmth in her childhood. Total shock to me. She’s now moved overseas and taken with her their 2 boys so now I’ve lost one whole family from my life. Recently she has removed me from Facebook and WhatsApp as well. Now my youngest daughter who I thought I had a fantastic relationship with is withdrawing. Not to the same extent but isn’t visiting or bringing the grandkids round anymore. I feel so alone. I have a pretty ok relationship with my 2 sons but am second guessing whether they’re being genuine or just pretending like the girls have been. I live alone and don’t work anymore due to panic attacks. Therapist’s aren’t getting anywhere by their own admission. I try and be nice to people but feel so judged all the time. Don’t even know how to interact with people anymore and am withdrawing into myself where at least I’m away from criticism. I barely sleep even though I exercise everyday and try and eat as healthily as I can. I travel a bit but even that is getting less enjoyable now. I just want to live my life in the where no one can judge or pity me. What am I even here for. No one gives a dam about me. I’m just a burden and most of me died with my husband. Don’t know how to even try and help myself. Nothing works. I’m going to be one of those people they find dead in their house for months before anyone even notices. Help needed.