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Should I stay or should I go.....
by Miss. Confused

Dear Prudence,

I'm 26 and have a 6 yr old son with my partner. We have been together since the age of 14. He has been very verbally and emotionally abusive towards me for the several years and has treatened to kill me on numerous occasions. He has put a great burden in my social life and doesn't allow me to interact with different people unless it is work realted. Finally when I get the courage to leave him, he was diagnosed with Cancer. He is now batteling Cancer and recently underwent a Stem Cell transplant. He is doing a lot better thank God and he his going to pull through but there is a huge possibility he will lose his eyesight. I'm not in love with him nor have I ever. I'm just used to him. Now when we argue he gives me all these guilt trips about his illness and our son and makes me feel like a bad person for not wanting to be with him. I've always felt I had no choice but to be with him. As an adult, I now realized I do have choices.

So really should I stay or should I go?

Miss. Confused

Re: Should I stay or should I go.....
by PhysicsGirl
You should go. If he was an abusive person before, he'll be one after. (Given his guilt trips it doesn't sound like he's improved) So you'll merely be stuck with an abusive person with bad eyesight...
Go.
by intersurfa
and next time, dont fall for the liars. how can you tell one? they dont take responsibilty for their actions or what they say. then look for borderline personality types. they're the ones who think the world revolves around them 100% and everyones else's wish isn't right.
Are you sure he has cancer?
by dumb_blonde

Have you seen medical reports?

You stay, his cancer might be a miracle & vanish.

What do you want?

Do you want a nice, healthy loving relationship? It sure isn't this one.

Do you want your son to grow up & be just like daddy? He is on his way.

How do you like your life now? How's that working for you?

As an adult, I now realized I do have choices.

No one but yourself can make your life choices. No one but you are responsible for the path you choose. Only you can control your life.

Re: Go.
by fridhem

Intrasurfa, that's not called advice, it's just a crap load of your own issues. By the way, you don't seem to know what borderline personality disorder really is. In most cases, they will do anything in order to keep from being left, even if it means degrading themselves, which is why most of them end up in abusive relationships. They are emotionally unstable, yes. Their emotions are highly unstable, and the degree in which they feel them is at a higher level than normal. Prone to suicide, self mutilation, and self-destructive behaviors. It's not self absorption, it's self loathing and desperation to not be "abandoned" even if that other is a creep, much like the LW's boyfriend is a creep.

But seriously, Miss. You need to go. The guilt trips are nothing more than abuse on a different level, emotional abuse. So what if he's blind in the end? That's what canes and seeing eye dogs are there for. I have a dear friend who is blind, lives on her own, and is very active. She lost her sight later in life, but hey, there were classes and support groups that helped her along so she can be the independent woman she is. He wants you around so he can take in out on you more. Men like him can take a thing even out of your own hands like cancer, and twist it to be your fault, or abuse you more. Hey, the added guilt trips he can use (after that many years, he's probably got you well programmed for guilt) to get you to stay as his whipping post.
You may want to seek counseling, and try to think about how much of your (hopefully soon-to-be ex) boyfriend's behaviors have influenced your son.

Re: Go.
by SusanM
fridhem:
Intrasurfa, that's not called advice, it's just a crap load of your own issues. By the way, you don't seem to know what borderline personality disorder really is. In most cases, they will do anything in order to keep from being left, even if it means degrading themselves, which is why most of them end up in abusive relationships. They are emotionally unstable, yes. Their emotions are highly unstable, and the degree in which they feel them is at a higher level than normal. Prone to suicide, self mutilation, and self-destructive behaviors. It's not self absorption, it's self loathing and desperation to not be "abandoned" even if that other is a creep, much like the LW's boyfriend is a creep.

That is a lovely accepting sentiment. I wonder if you could keep it up the 20th time somebody with borderline lashed out at you? How about the 100th? The 1000th? That emotional unbalance has a tendency to make the person lash out often, sometimes with extremely disastrous consequences.

I'm with intersurfa, a person wants to avoid a relationship with somebody with borderline, esp an untreated one. I'd say it is several steps worse than taking up with an untreated alcoholic in fact.

Re: Go.
by fridhem

have either of you actually been paired up with a bpd? truly, I wish to know. Unfortunately, those who think as you and intrasurfa probably never had, and if you did, didn't care enough to either help support via therapy, or being stable yourself. In most cases, those pairing with the unstable bpd are usually quite unstable themselves, looking for either a victim, or someone to blame their own problems on. Worse than an untreated alcoholic? Not even near close. Which one have you lived/given a chance with?

I was raised with a bpd, thank you. and you know what? Just a LITTLE understanding can go long distances in a relationship with one. Especially if it's your own parent. I've taken care of said bpd quite a few times since becoming an adult. Watching those (much like you, probably) use and then trash to the point the bpd could barely stand. There's more emotions that they feel than just anger. You probably never even considered trying to research what it's like for the bpd. If you were living with one and actually cared for that person (instead of only concentrating on what you can get out of that person, or ditching at the first sign of break down) you would have check that info out, and with understanding as to what is going on in that head, been able to live well with that person.

The one in my life has finally found a person who cares enough to not only acknowledge the bpd and how it affects them as a person involved, but how it affects the bpd as well. They are living beautifully well, and golly gee, the patience, love and understanding actually is making a very happy marriage! Who would have thought? None of you, but then again, you both sound as though if you had been around a bpd, you didn't care enough about them.

Yeah, I dealt with the lashing outs, but even as a child, I knew it was coming from somewhere else, and the bpd parent opened up, and we found ways to work together, and it's one of my best relationships, especially since this parent trusts me and I have her open honesty. It's not that hard to see when a bpd is crashing down, getting too ecstatic, or full of anxiety and frustration to the point of a lash-out. And it's not hard (as long as you are able to think of others than yourself) to know what to do. Using common sense, during a crash down, do what you'd do for a friend who's been heartbroke, either give the person time, or listen. Too much euphoria? Get the person out for a calming walk. Going to get into a rage? Give them the space instead of getting in their face. Believe it or not those rages don't last long. tried any of that? it's what you'd want if you were in those moods, or do you never lash out, feel low to an exreme?

As for the untreated alcoholic, very pathetic of you to say they are better. I'd like to watch as you live with one that not only rains your bank for their booze, coming home in a drunken state, either violent, or so sick, you have to clean up after them the entire night, every night, and watch as they kill themselves this way, and perhaps, even innocent children as they drive home.

Yeah, drunks are much better, aren't they?

As one who grew up with one, I have a better say than either of you, thank you.

Relationships with a bpd can be very warm and caring. Only if you could be caring and understanding enough to find out what's going on. They don't go into lashing out rages out of the blue. There's always something behind it, whether from in the home or something that built up over a work day.

Yup. alcoholics are better, you can work with a relationship real well with an untreated. Tell that to my loved ones stuck with them and abandoned or abused, or to the mothers who lost kids to them. Love your logic.

Re: Go.
by SusanM
fridhem:
As one who grew up with one, I have a better say than either of you, thank you.

Too too ironic. Yep, my Mom is a borderline. Sort of knocks the wind right out of your sales doesn't it? By the time I was 16 she was in prison for murder bargained down to manslaughter. Of course, that was not her first or second (or third... yada yada) assault with a deadly weapon, it just happened to be the first person that died from it. Flash forward 10 years and she is attempting to knock around my 5 year old stepson so he knows he has to be a 'good boy' for her daughter. But I guess he should have learned how to work around her disorder and gave her the proper compassion right?

I tried to understand for 25 years. And she would still just lash out at me anytime she felt like it. Her reasoning? "I'm a bitch, I like being a bitch, deal with it". So I stopped dealing with it.

Alcoholics are bad, I'm not arguing that. But borderline can get you damaged just as quick and twice as bad.

Re: Go.
by IncogNeato
SusanM:
"I'm a bitch, I like being a bitch, deal with it". So I stopped dealing with it.
Sounds like you made the right choice. The child's welfare must trump the adult's illness. However, with her violent history, why did you allow her around him to begin with? Not judging, just curious.
Re: Go.
by SusanM

Because up until that moment I was still sort of thinking along the lines of the person above - she is just needs compassion and if I'm careful enough with her it will all be ok. Maybe why I have more understanding of the woman in the other thread - I understand how incredibly hard it is to let go of that childish thinking, especially when it is attached to those you loved in childhood.

She tried to hurt him though (I yanked him away and we left so he wasn't actually hurt). And at that moment I saw I could either keep my childish thinking or I could keep another child from becoming a victim. It is odd how so many defining moments in my life where it was literally a curtain falling and I saw everything so clearly.

It was a bad decision. I never repeated it.

Re: Go.
by SusanM

Bah... now you've got me dumping... feel free to skip this if you want.

The fight I had with the young lady in my family I had in the other thread? Apparently the young lady had told my borderline mom that she wasn't going to be allowed to be alone with the baby when it got here. So my mom called the suicide hotline, said because she heard this horrible thing she was going to kill herself. Got herself checked into the hospital for a week and is now telling everybody how the young lady was so horrible to her and almost destroyed her. She what a bad bad person she is - she pushed me into suicide! I didn't know this until a week later.

So yeah, all those borderline people need is a little compassion! Or they will freaking use every method in their arsenal to destroy you....

Re: Go.
by evil_robots
fridhem:

have either of you actually been paired up with a bpd? truly, I wish to know.

Yeah - this is never the right question to ask in this neighborhood of the fray. I think we need a poster who was a child solder and someone sold by human traffickers and this section here will have collectively seen the worst people can do to one another.

It's a forum on advice - so yes, most of the posters are probably a bit touched - but we got there the honest, old fashioned way - so the whole "you don't cause you haven't lived it" routine never really gets far. As was the case here.

To the OP - Staying with someone who treats you badly because of guilt will send the wrong message to your child. In my opinion, you should leave.

Re: Go.
by IncogNeato

SusanM:
She tried to hurt him though (I yanked him away and we left so he wasn't actually hurt). And at that moment I saw I could either keep my childish thinking or I could keep another child from becoming a victim. It is odd how so many defining moments in my life where it was literally a curtain falling and I saw everything so clearly.
It's amazing the things I was willing to put up with till I had a child of my own. Then it wasn't something I could whitewash anymore.

The problem with the OP is that even with a kid, she's still whitewashing. Even though she admits she knows it's very bad.

Re: Go.
by SusanM

My advice to the OP would be to sit down, by herself, where nobody is looking over her shoulder and write down a list of everything that she wants for her child. Then work backwards... what will it take to get that for her child... what in their current life contributes to that effort...what takes away from it?

If, as I suspect, the only thing that this guy is contributing is financial support then she needs to look at ways to get that financial support without having to take all the crap with it.

Make it a practical issue and not an emotional one. Emotions are too conflicted in this situation for them to be any help.

bi-polar now?
by intersurfa

bpd is not the same thing as borderline. bi-polar is over the border, over the horizon, over the hemisphere, out of this world. yes, i've known bi-polar people.

i was just referring to regular people with personality orders.

the LW's husband doesn't strike me as bi-polar as much as a criminal personality.

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