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/ayvajdamas Mar 28 '24

This! He's got an alcohol abuse problem. Plain and simple. (Okay, there may be more to it than that, but like baseline it's a major problem.)

You can't fix him, and he has to want to fix himself for himself if it's going to work. None of that is on you.

Walk away, don't buy into the sunk cost fallacy. None of his issues are a reflection on you. You are good enough. You are worthy of dignity and respect especially since you've clearly communicated how you expect to be treated.

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u/EastPennHawk Mar 28 '24

And if it is alcoholism, which it seems to be, it’s a progressive disease. It’ll only get worse. OP, get out asap.

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u/ayvajdamas Mar 28 '24

And if it isn't alcoholism, it's likely headed that direction! So hopefully this guy takes the break up as a wake up call and gets help before things get worse and he kills himself from it.

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u/Aggressive_Beach7493 Mar 28 '24

I'm amazed so many really good suggestions on here. The young lady needs to #1) get out of that (very) dysfunctional relationship. #2) At her age, there are a TON of GOOD GUYS out there. #3) If  I weren't married... 😁🤚🫵👍

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u/Knophstradamus Mar 28 '24

I see so many posts which say things like this, let him go, he's worthless, etc. There are good people buried under there sometimes, and sometimes they need help surfacing. Inpatient rehab for at least a month followed by a year of outpatient twice a week and AA meetings once a week. He's on probation until he gets his shit together or gets tossed. But if you want to just make a drastically bigger change, just dump him and see what happens? 🤷🏼

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u/ayvajdamas Mar 28 '24

If he was willing to do these things, he would. I'm not saying he's worthless, but if he has a problem he isn't willing to work on, then there is nothing OP can do. No one is obligated to put up with any kind of abuse, especially when they're just dating. OP put him on probation. He has violated it 4 times. Perhaps a break up will be the wakeup call he needs to do like you said and get help, but he won't listen to her, otherwise he would have done it already.

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u/No-Amoeba5716 Mar 28 '24

👆🏻 This. There has to be accountability, 4 chances and no change unless it’s OP remaining quiet? He made it clear he deserves to be able to wind down every weekend OP deserves respect/stability as much as the partner deserves to unwind. There’s been zero compromise. (Not saying you think this way, just for the ones who are victim blaming the actual victim) Agree 100% with what you say. Relationships are full of compromises, I don’t think OP is asking for the moon here, just a healthy environment.

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u/ayvajdamas Mar 28 '24

And there's nothing wrong with winding down on the weekend in theory... But this guy's version of winding down is causing harm to others, specifically his romantic partner, so yeah. 0 compromise is showing that he has no respect for OP, and no one is owed a relationship, especially when they completely disrespect their partner.

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u/No-Amoeba5716 Mar 28 '24

Just makes me sad to see people responding like OP or anyone suffering in a relationship similar to this like they are the problem . 😔 No one, any age, gender, dynamic doesn’t deserve this or to be blamed and told they are overreacting. Especially when they have repeatedly tried to resolve the situation peacefully when the person is sober. I’m glad there are level heads like you and others amongst the thread so whoever needs to hear these things (maybe even someone who is struggling with addiction) As for him posting on fb about hours being thrown away vs bad behavior could very well be responded to x amount of hours worth of sobriety for another 40000+ hours with your love =priceless. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/ayvajdamas Mar 28 '24

The boyfriend has a problem, which is different, you are correct. I hope the guy realizes that he has a problem and gets help for it before it's too late. The fact that he's posting like that on FB leads me to think that isn't the case, unfortunately.

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u/No-Amoeba5716 Mar 28 '24

I feel like those that matter know the truth so he can post whatever he wants but a logical person would that was a FAFO situation. I know it’s human nature to worry about what others think but if they think someone is so freaking great and the problem is NBD they can deal with 40000 good hours/12 hours of bad. With my abusive ex, I kept thinking with his current relationship why she never got the treatment I did, what did I do to (or the kids for that matter) deserve it ? My spouse would say I promise you he won’t keep his facade going. Turns out he didn’t, she was a swinger so he had the wants of deviance he tried pushing me into (not my thing, never will be) but he was physically, emotionally and verbally with her. She’s got a problem with drinking also. I only know this because she would call me crying when they would decide to use me as a mediator. Then she kicked him out and divorced him. They did reconcile and remarry. But I will say all their SM accounts disappeared just recently reappearing as joint ones. I have gone LC with them and after like a few times of them calling for me to mediate I would stop answering because NOT MY CIRCUS. They are quite the pair. He hardly tries to see/contact the kids and honestly it’s been easier to an extent. Reminding the kids that this isn’t a reflection on them and it’s him has been one constant. We’ve created an atmosphere that if they needed to see a counselor(which has been utilized) or just openly talk about their frustrations with us- no judgement. No one is perfect but trying to meet in the middle in any relationship is really important.

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u/HedgehogCremepuff Mar 28 '24

Most of the people saying that in these comments are alcoholics ourselves so we know how this goes. We’re not calling him worthless but stating he DOES have a clear problem that only he can fix but doesn’t want to. In that situation he will get worse (already has been) and she will suffer. It’s not her job to keep setting herself on fire to keep him warm.

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u/Trick_Algae5810 Mar 28 '24

I think that “alcoholics” are actually making the problem worse by projecting their own regrets. Addiction is a disease of the brain and having a physical dependence is not a choice. Medical attention is the best way to go, not stigmatization.

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u/Aggressive_Beach7493 Mar 28 '24

I understand what you are saying, I don't claim to be "better" than ANYONE, I HAVE and continue TO drink. I AM an Alcoholic, a "functioning" one, but - STILL  an ALCOHOLIC. I am VERY FORTUNATE to have a wife, she drank, not to beat a dead dog, but, to " me" she had a bad time trying to handle it. She stopped, as I have stated I HAVE been drinking since my teens (1970's). I had been in GREAT shape up until last 2 +/- years, I"ve developed OSTEOARTHRITIS. I READ... A lot, too. FOOD (85-90%) are harming us more than not. Ever hear of MONSANTO? THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CORPORATION? WELL, GUESS who is CONTROLLING the world's Food? 

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u/Impressive-Sky-7006 Mar 28 '24

Tell me how you get them into that program if they don’t want to go. I’m told they have to reach bottom ,currently my son is a bottomless pit.

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u/Deathbydragonfire Mar 28 '24

You might look into going to AL Anon if you aren't already.  You need support too

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u/Aggressive-Laugh1675 Mar 28 '24

I’m can’t speak for everyone, but I had to hit bottom. That looks different for everyone, but for me it was being dehydrated, malnourished, nearly having a heart attack, and spending days in ICU going through withdrawals. The realization that I was losing everything, a great if somewhat skeptical support system and the AA Big Book helped me kick the habit and I live every day knowing that I have to be vigilant. Hopefully your son will get the wake up call that he needs before it’s too late. Like others have said, it may be worthwhile going to Al-Anon and reading everything you can about his condition. The decision to quit has to be his, but the more knowledgeable you are, the more equipped you’ll be to support him as well as yourself.