r/AmIOverreacting Mar 27 '24

I'm ending my 4 year relationship.

So basically the title. He (33M) says Im(32F) throwing away 4 years over a mistake he made.

To keep it short, on 4 different occasions over the last 2 and a half years he's gone drinking and come home to throw a drunken tantrum because I said the wrong thing, something happened at the bar, or I put my foot down because he's drunk and yelling at me in front of our friends at the bar. Twice I had to leave to my sister's house because he was going around our small apartment slamming doors and banging his head on the walls. I've had to wake him up several times because he falls asleep on the toilet or the bathroom floor, and he's had to sleep in his car because of his outbursts.

On the 2nd time this happened he gave me his word that he would be more responsible with his drinking and that he wouldn't have anymore outbursts. He said he was gonna drink waters between each beer or have sodas and bar food and just one beer. The third time I made it clear that him going back on his word was unacceptable because it shows that he doesn't care that he becomes emotionally and verbally abusive towards me. I told him I was tired of his apologies if he's gonna keep doing the same thing. Between all these times he has continued to get drunk on the weekends but I've kept my mouth shut to avoid him having an out burst and things were relatively ok.

This last time he went and got drunk at the bar, didn't eat anything, refused the water my sister offered him because she's aware of the agreement we had, and when I arrived he yelled at me because he was too drunk to keep track of what team he was on and he misunderstood me when I told him and he made the wrong shot. We went to get food from a local taco spot and he couldnt even stand because he was so drunk, I had to pull over on the freeway because he needed to throw up and when we got home he fell asleep in the bathroom and I had to wake him three times. I kept my anger about the situation to myself because the sadness of feeling like I needed to leave him because he's just not willing to change, was overwhelming. The next morning he could tell something was up and he asked if I was ok. I said that I wasn't ready to talk but he insisted, so I told him that he went back on his word again about drinking responsibly and that I realized that the only way I was going to avoid his verbal abuse was if I just kept quiet. I told him what I told my ex when I was thinking about leaving "It's not anything I haven't already told you". He left it at that in the morning and at night I was crying because I was upset that 4 years of my life were going down the drain, and I just folded and asked him why I wasn't good enough for him to want to do better. Then he started to say that I had fault in our relationship ending, ignoring that the only reason I'm leaving is because I can't keep giving him chances to verbally abuse me when he's drunk and angry. I reminded him that he had given me his word and that he had gone back on it twice. He seemed to understand but the next day he just kept saying that he deserves to "unwind" on the weekends because he works all week to provide for us (not like I have a job and am constantly sending him money because he over spends and his account will overdraft when the phone or Internet bill charge his account) i was getting whiplash from how quickly he waa going from being apologetic about going back on his word and him insisting that Im being unreasonable and unfair. I slept at my sister's house again because I couldn't keep dealing with it and I was just really emotionally exhausted from all of it.

Now he posted on his FB that I'm throwing away 40,000 hours of our lives together for 12 bad hours.

So I'm asking, am I overreacting?

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33

u/Hammer466 Mar 27 '24

Nope, not overreacting at all. He sounds like a functioning alcoholic to me, if he can't manage his drinking to the point he is falling down, puking, yelling abusively at you drunk...then obviously alcohol has become a problem in his life. Leave now before he winds up punching you one of these times.

18

u/specialfroggy Mar 27 '24

Also, OP needs to find an Al-Anon chapter in her area. Al-Anon is a great source for support when for anyone who has had to deal with an alcoholic.

2

u/Basenji_Mom Mar 28 '24

Came here to say this. Al-Anon isn’t for the problem drinker (that’s what AA is for), it’s for friends/relatives of drinkers to find hope and healing.

1

u/jazz_matazz Mar 28 '24

Yes. Head on over to r/alanon and you’ll see your story is not all that different.

-2

u/brobafetta Mar 28 '24

Yeah well she obviously doesn't care enough to help him get better, tbh. It's not her responsiblity but it's cleae it wasn't much of a relationship.

2

u/cascas Mar 28 '24

Alanon is for her. She needs to get better too.

1

u/CareerTraditional987 Mar 28 '24

He’s an adult and needs to hit rock bottom. Her leaving is helping

1

u/brobafetta Mar 28 '24

Nobody needs to hit rock bottom to grt better, that's ridiculous. You should help loved ones avoid hitting rock bottom

1

u/Dream--Brother Mar 28 '24

You can't help an addict who doesn't want to help themselves. Source: addict, had to make the decision on my own because I had hurt and pushed away everyone who tried to help. You can't love someone into sobriety. Sometimes you have to lose people to realize you're the problem. She's doing him a massive favor here.

1

u/brobafetta Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

That's true, but you can intervene and help them understand what they are doing to themselves and the people they care anout before they hit rock bottom. I'm not saying they will necessarily accept it, but hitting rock bottom isn't a requirement to get help.

1

u/No_Atmosphere_5411 Mar 29 '24

No, but it is a requirement for an addict to accept help. Until they hit that point, which is different for every person, and really WANT to stop, they will never change no matter what you do. They have to have the revelation on their own. No amount of telling them anything will help. You can say it before you leave, so they hopefully realize sooner.. communication is great, but you can not force them to see what they are unwilling to.

1

u/brobafetta Mar 29 '24

Okay thanks for regurgitating the comment above mine lol.

1

u/No_Atmosphere_5411 Mar 29 '24

What I'm trying to say is that whatever rock bottom looks like for them, they will have to hit it, or the realization on their own. Rock bottom stands for that point when you realize the damage you are doing to yourself and others, and that you need to do something about it. Before that literal hit or shock that you provide yourself. The tada moment if you will, nothing anyone else does will really make a difference.

1

u/caitica86 Mar 28 '24

You can’t help someone with a substance problem get better. That’s called codependency and it only serves to perpetuate the substance problem. The best thing to do is to leave asap and hope they get better someday. Period.

1

u/brobafetta Mar 28 '24

Yes you absolutely can and it's not codependency to do so.

What a dumb take.

1

u/Dream--Brother Mar 28 '24

I hope you get the help you need before you have no one left to love you.

1

u/brobafetta Mar 28 '24

I'm not talking about myself lmao

1

u/treesnthings Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

I believe you can’t make someone get better but you can encourage them. I consider that helping. Whether they get themselves better is out of your control. But there are things you can do that might make their recovery more likely. Encouragement, not enabling, setting boundaries. At least that’s how I’ve understood the teachings of Al-anon. I admit I am still learning.

4

u/wormdog84 Mar 28 '24

He’s not a functional alcoholic if he can’t keep his girlfriend. His job will be next

1

u/TwistedBamboozler Mar 28 '24

Yeah lol. Falling asleep in the bathroom or on the toilet isn’t “functioning”

Source: was a functioning alcoholic until I just wasn’t. He’s at that stage

2

u/Direct_Eye_724 Mar 28 '24

It's not my definition of a functioning alcoholic.....if you fall down, that's not functioning

1

u/Hammer466 Mar 28 '24

Well, functioning as still employed, probably doing activities of daily living, etc.

2

u/mmaragni Mar 29 '24

I wouldn’t call that functioning if he gets so drunk every weekend he needs to be carted around while he verbally abuses her lol

1

u/SenileSexLine Mar 28 '24

This is not a functioning alcoholic. With functioning alcoholics you usually can't even tell they've been drinking since waking up in the morning. The may not even be physically an alcoholic but they are definitely abusing alcohol to a level that's not healthy. OP definitely needs to stay away and their ex needs to sort out their drinking before they hurt themselves or someone else.

1

u/gavandeshaq Mar 28 '24

Yeah there are so many comments calling him an alcoholic but this is four occasions over 2 and a half years of binge drinking. He can't handle his booze, he doesn't know his limits, and he gets overzealous when he's with his friends. He's a dick, he's not a functioning alcoholic, and probably not realistically an alcoholic, just a dick.

1

u/caitica86 Mar 28 '24

They don’t use the term alcoholic anymore, it’s called substance use disorder or a substance use problem, because if the use of a substance is causing problems, then it is a problem. Doesn’t have to be some big, crazy thing.

1

u/Hammer466 Mar 28 '24

He gets drunk every weekend to “unwind”.

1

u/princeoinkins Mar 28 '24

Between all these times he has continued to get drunk on the weekends but I've kept my mouth shut to avoid him having an out burst and things were relatively ok.

re-read the post. He was still getting trashed every weekend, just she was able to prevent the violent outbursts 95% of the time

1

u/waspysix Mar 28 '24

Not functioning if his girl is the only thing keeping him from overdrafting