Is this my cross to carry?

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sunnysun

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Hello,
please forgive me in advance for such a long message. You guys are the first people that I am opening to.
I am struggling in my marriage again and I’m not sure where to go (I’ll explain why).
I have posted in the forum before when I was struggling to decide what to do with my family after I found out about my husband’s affair. My decision was to stay put until things settle and we got counseling and later I decided it was better for me to forgive for a few reasons. 1. It made me go through pain and love through it. 2. I kept the family together for the sake of the kids. 3. I still loved my husband and 4. He stopped his affair and began to show remorse.

Time has passed, I did develop PTSD (mentioned in another post), I got involved more in church (I’m a Catechist), and slowly saw one kid off to college and the other in boarding school. Throughout this time my husband got involved in church as well just to follow and show me he meant to be with us. He really has never been one on believing in God and admits to not being able to see, feel, want to have to learn more about God. He says “I know he’s there but that’s about it”. I don’t push on the subject and do more of “lead by example”.

We have had our ups and downs and I might get flashbacks but nothing I can’t control. My husband in the other hand has had many issues with his family, is very strong in character and stubborn and has unresolved issues with his family which affects our marriage even though he says he is everything under control (he likes control).

Unfortunately yesterday as we were going out I thought I had lost my charger to later find he had taken it (chargers are an issue in my house because he takes everybody’s chargers and looses them and have had to replace many), anyways I told him to please tell me next time he has it so I don’t go nuts looking for it.
Well, His response was so out of control as if I had “cheated” on him that I could not believe it. I stayed quiet and told him I did not want to argue and he went on with rage. I left the area and later came back and asked if we were going to talk about it (since it was so stupid) and his answered yelling and did not want to talk.

Fast forward an hour or two, I was in the bedroom with the intention of “I’m not going to argue today”. He came in into the room and asked to talk. He began to say how insulted he was that I said “don’t take my charger without telling me” and began to attack me with words.
I told him several times that I did not want to fight and he kept on pushing and saying hurtful things. I began to not feel well and told him I felt like I was going to loose my mind and to please leave me alone. He began to yell “this is your fault”, you need to own this, confront it, this is all your fault! And I need an apology!
He kept on screaming and I said I needed to leave. He told me he was leaving and threw the door and left me in the room.
At that point I was feeling like my mind was going to blow up, I have NEVER experience rage/upset and panicky at the same time (besides when I found out about the affair). I told him I was loosing my mind and he kept on screaming “let it out”, “that’s what I’m looking for”, “let it out” and I beg him to stop but he kept yelling the same and I yelled back that it was his fault my mind was not the same and I was loosing my mind and he followed me towards the bedroom screaming at me “let it out”, “there’s the reaction” and the rest is a blur. He kept on screaming at me and I lost control of my body (as if I was not in me) and threw a candle vase on the floor to make him stop.

I began to have a panic attack, locked myself in the room and cried I don’t know for how long. I still don’t know how it got like that. and I can’t explain why was such a small issue turned huge. I felt and feel emotionally abused.

I’ve been wrecking my brain wondering who can help me spiritually. Because we are both involved with the church and the priest loves his doctor (my husband) I don’t want to talk about him. The rest of the people are so impressed and love to have a doctor so involved and I feel like I would be “muddying the waters” for him and make him look bad in front on people that look up to him. My husband is a very successful doctor, and people admire him a lot. He is not a horrible person and I do t want to make him look bad among them.

Where do I go then? If we are so involved that I don’t know where to turn? I don’t think my husband would be willing to talk to anybody at church and he said no to a counselor before.
Is this my cross? I thought I gave all of me before and throughout all these years and even though I do not want to end this marriage, how do I know I either keep carrying or leave this.

I went to the blessed sacrament today and prayed the rosary in hope to be enlightened. I know things don’t happen magically. I honestly don’t know how to carry this cross of it is for me to carry.
Any (name removed by moderator)ut, prayer, help would be most appreciated.
God bless,
Sunny
 
Well, the only thing I could think of is try a priest at a different parish, or a counselor- go alone if your husband won’t go with you. A counselor could at least help you with your side of things.

I am praying for you.
 
Your husband needs to be evaluated by a doctor and a psychiatrist because he has serious rage issues. Part of it may be biological.

You need counseling for coping skills and alleviation of PTSD symptoms. You also need to sort out with someone fast whether you can safely live with him or do you need another place or a shelter.

God bless you.
 
I don’t think you should just put up this situation. It sounds detrimental and unsafe.
 
Does your husband usually rage like this?
Was it over the phone charger or is it just a symptom of a bigger issue?
Ie:is he happy in the marriage/wanting to be married and are you sure he isn’t having any more affairs?
 
Marriage counseling. Together. It’s way past talking to your pastor. He won’t go for psych testing because they flag doctors.
Find a marriage counselor through your Diocese (to ensure a Catholic one).
Make sure you are safe. Have things in place should you have to leave.
Go to counseling alone if he won’t go. If he believes the problem is all you, then say " gee, they’re really helping me" and maybe he’ll go later. And then begin working on it himself. I’m sorry you’re going through this. A dear friend is struggling with the same thing. But someone has to shine a light on it. It’s not going away on its own. Prayer is good, but you both have to admit there are bigger problems. Be assured of our prayers.
 
Yes, marriage counseling. But give him a choice, marriage counseling or both of you having a sit down with your pastor.

Your husband should respect you, not treat you like a doormat. This is an opportunity for you to take a bit of ‘control’. It sounds like he has problems with power and possibly honor.

It takes a very strong person to withstand what you went through once. With some couples, this sort of abuse is routine. Marriage is a cross in and of itself; physical and/or verbal abuse is not a cross.
 
I do feel for you so much, and understand your pain. The pain of betrayal, and the spouse’s refusal to own his responsibility for it. I am a survivor of an abusive relationship - in an upscale setting. Keeping you psychologically off balance by over-reacting is one hallmark of upscale abuse, reinforced by your spouse’s profession.

Please get a copy of the following book nottopeoplelikeus.com/body/gethelp.html
“Not to People Like Us” is an excellent resource. It is more secularly oriented than spiritual, but offers excellent ideas and strategies for dealing with this situation. Also yesterday (Sept 8, 2016) Living Right with Dr. Ray had a very good segment on rebuilding trust after an affair. Please check EWTN’s schedule / show archives & links for it . Long story short - to paraphrase Dr. Ray - he’s got a lot of work to do.

There are ways to deal with this discretely and spiritually, but never let yourself be compromised for the sake of his image. Like the example of the Pharisees - the inside of the cup is in dire need of cleansing. (Matthew 23:25)

This is not your cross - and I do not believe God expects us to sacrifice our sanity and safety on the altar of marriage. Back when I was going through this, one of my best and brightest students questioned me re: “breaking the marital covenant you both made before God”. I told her that I wasn’t the one who broke the covenant when he left bruises on me.This beautiful young woman later lost her life under questionable circumstances with a spouse she was trying to “make things work” with.

Bless you, and stay safe.**
 
Hello,

At that point I was feeling like my mind was going to blow up, I have NEVER experience rage/upset and panicky at the same time (besides when I found out about the affair). I told him I was loosing my mind and he kept on screaming "let it out", “that’s what I’m looking for”, “let it out” and I beg him to stop but he kept yelling the same and I yelled back that it was his fault my mind was not the same and I was loosing my mind and he followed me towards the bedroom screaming at me “let it out”, “there’s the reaction” and the rest is a blur. He kept on screaming at me and I lost control of my body (as if I was not in me) and threw a candle vase on the floor to make him stop.

Any (name removed by moderator)ut, prayer, help would be most appreciated.
God bless,
Sunny
This part of the post stood out to me. It is very hard for a spouse to have an argument alone. If he feels (rightly or wrongly) that you are not “letting things out” ie: you are not communicating your frustrations, he may feel emotionally shut out. It’s very hard to live with a person who never reacts emotionally to ANYTHING, and if he is passionate, your dis-passionate acceptance of the way things are may be very difficult for him to take.

I could be wrong, but I think his asking you to “let it out” is a call for help by your husband. Could he feel shut out? even slightly? What do you think he means by “let it out?” I highly recommend marriage counseling.
 
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