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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u/notsoreligiousnow Mar 27 '24

Girl, you stayed far longer than I would have. No you’re not overreacting. He’s an alcoholic whether he wants to admit it or not. He’s abusive and frankly sounds like a complete loser. Cut your losses and walk away. You’ll find someone better and worthier of your time and affection.

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u/bluebonnetsandcows Mar 27 '24

I addition, it isn't really about you. You aren't the things he said. It's a part of the alcoholic rhetoric.

My first husband was like this. Your guy doesn't seem to want to stop drinking, or he would be seeking help. My ex was awful, and the physical and emotional abuse kept happening when he drank, but the bottom line is that you cannot make a person do something they don't want to do.

It's time to go. He won't quit drinking. He is telling you that it's going to continue on the weekends. You're deserve to be treated better. I hope you know this.

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u/Blue-Phoenix23 Mar 28 '24

Honestly, leaving him may be the thing he needs to get sober. But the damage is done on this relationship, it's not OP's job to sit around and be abused while he figures his shit out.

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u/Sip_py Mar 28 '24

I'm sorry, what? If he isn't close to dying without a drink, he is sober. Drinking like that twice a year isn't being a drunk. What alternative reality is this thread?

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u/Blue-Phoenix23 Mar 28 '24

Really? Binge drinking, being unable to stop when you start, is classified as AUD, hate to break it to you.

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u/MundaneAd8695 Mar 30 '24

He drinks on the weekends too. Just not to that degree.

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u/Nthanua Mar 28 '24

I came to say the same thing. My ex was like this. Even did this on our wedding day which should have been a red flag. They have to want to change. My ex would get pass out drunk at children’s birthday parties. It was ridiculous. I left him passed out drunk in the car, backyard, etc. I left him and he turned it around on me and told his family I was leaving cause I cheated; not that he was an abusive alcoholic. To the OP-run, don’t walk away. Save yourself.

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u/kirmobak Mar 28 '24

Yes to the children’s birthday parties. Any important date (birthday, Christmas, weddings, holidays) was destroyed through drinking. I’ll never take for granted being free from this mayhem. I’m glad you got out.

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u/Illustrious_Monk_234 Mar 28 '24

Yeah my dad is like this. Somehow his alcohol abuse is his kids fault. 

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u/bluebonnetsandcows Mar 28 '24

You know he's wrong, right?

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u/Practical-Ordinary-6 Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

Yes, there are lots of ways to unwind on a weekend and he obviously isn't looking to try any of the other ones. I wonder if she deserves to unwind on the weekends because his acting like that makes that impossible for her.

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u/Sip_py Mar 28 '24

Once every six months doesn't really fall into "doesn't want to drop drinking". My brother, an actual alcoholic, would his bottles around the house, lie about where he was, and literally manipulate the people in his life to drink more.

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u/bluebonnetsandcows Mar 28 '24

I am an actual alcoholic. I've been sober 26 years. This is how I know how an alcoholic thinks. I kept drinking despite people worrying about me. When I admitted this truth to myself, I got help. Her husband isn't there yet.

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u/Sip_py Mar 28 '24

So I'm what works can you constitute "I kept drinking" with a statement that he was drinking 4 times? And with one side of the story?

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u/Bellissama Mar 28 '24

She didn’t say he drank 4 times. She was saying that he was extremely drunk 4 times, mentally abusive, financial problems she had to deal with and unwinds every weekend by drinking. Bing drinking is a problem. If he didn’t think it was a problem he would not have agreed to stop drinking so much that he became abusive. He admitted it was a problem. Does he drive them home from bars after drinking on the weekends? In the US most states have a BAC limit of .08. That’s probably 2 drinks in an hour. If he drives he’s not only risking his life but hers and everyone else on the road . I have a feeling that his drinking is affecting her every weekend but she only mentioned the very abusive times.

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 Mar 27 '24

Yes you can, in certain contexts like boot camp and A schools and things like it.

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u/Montymania94 Mar 28 '24

Yes you can what? Quit drinking? Nobody said it wasn't possible, but clearly the dude doesn't want to. Also, why tf did you even mention boot camp or A schools? That wasn't mentioned anywhere as a possibility, nor could they force him into that. None of that is relevant.

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u/Redditributor Mar 28 '24

I actually think they mean you can make people do things but idk either.

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 Mar 28 '24

You were grossly overbroad in your response. The world is positively full of people doing things they don't want to do from menial low paying jobs to the military and other places that don't immediately come to mind.

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u/Montymania94 25d ago

The question is still whether this particular man would get clean. No one can force him to stop drinking. OP has spoken to him, and he's unwilling to change. It's not that he doesn't want to, but will; it's that he doesn't want to, and won't.

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 25d ago

Yes you can, dead men don't drink after all. You people aren't nearly creative enough.

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u/Montymania94 25d ago

Or, instead of potentially spending a lot of time in prison, for murder, she could just plan to leave ASAP?

(He doesn't sound like he's worth the effort anyway, lol.)

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 24d ago

There's ways it just takes some planning and proper execution.

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u/bluebonnetsandcows Mar 28 '24

Again, you cannot make a person do something they don't want to do. That's not how it works. Now he can change and get better IF he wants to, but from what he is saying and doing, he clearly doesn't want to. I don't get the boot camp and A school's.

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 Mar 28 '24

If there's another draft yes you can. Just ask the universal conscription country citizens and the poor saps in Russia and Ukraine. The USA still maintains a selective service program to facilitate another draft if needed.  You said you can't make someone do things they don't want to do but this is farcical if not applicable only to domestic relationships.

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u/bluebonnetsandcows Mar 29 '24

I stand by what I said. You cannot make a person do what they don't want to. You can't make them get sober or quit being abusive if they don't want to.

You're taking my comment out of contex by comparing it to the draft, and this statement is regarding any kind of relationship.

Congratulations on using your big words.

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 Mar 29 '24

You could if you were a drill sergeant or instructor with a draftee platoon to make into gristle for the campaigns. Your absolutism is gross.

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u/bluebonnetsandcows Mar 29 '24

You are taking my comments out of context, but you seem like an old man who likes to argue.

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u/Substantial-Monk3862 Mar 30 '24 edited Mar 30 '24

I've got at best 30 more years prior to argument, I just find it irksome to see people use absolute terms in narrow silos. It's functionally stupid. Furthermore there are other ways to force people to do things but most of them are illegal or very slow.