I admit, if I had known anything at all about adult ADHD in my husband, prior to marrying him I would have researched and known what I was in for, and surely headed for the hills!
But I didn't. I had no idea that my dh had been diagnosed as a child, and has lived his entire adult life not even acknowledging he still has it, and didn't tell me anything. I was so unfamiliar with ADHD, except that children are diagnosed for this or ADD, thought they outgrew it.
WELL! Shame on me, I married him after meeting and falling madly in love, and a short, 6 month relationship. Everything I have read, all of the signs, characteristics, and behavior of adult ADHD is him, all of them, looks like he has it in full form.
Depression, dramatic unprovoked mood swings, hyperfocuses, lacks focus, he lies, he loses things, he has a very fast temper and anger, low self-esteem, feels underachieved, loses things, spends money frivilously yet can't account for where he spent it, our communication is zero, unless of course I 'reel him in' with my calm talk and digging to get anything out of him, we go noplace together, haven't been in the same car for at least the past year, we have separate bedrooms, I am lonely and feel empty, he's like a duracell bunny, just can't even sit down and chat or anything, he stands to eat nearly all of the time, morning, lunch at work, most dinners we eat separately because I can't eat fast at 10 or 11 at night, when he finally comes in from the basement (his mancave) showers then grabs a bite and goes to bed.
He usually sleeps no more than 5 hours a night, is a light sleeper and tells me sometimes he lays there for hours wide awake.
Other times randomly he goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until 5 am for work, usually a few days in a row he does this, then back to his 4-5 hour sleep.
He doesn't listen or hear me, he forgets constantly, he lies about having made an appt to see a dr about getting help, this last time I asked him if he had called to make an appt, he said yes I did, I asked okay when is it, he said he couldn't get in until the 23rd, okay, that works. Good. Calendar shows the 23rd is a Sunday. The morning of the 23rd I said thanks for that, I appreciate the lie, he just dismisses it and heads to the basement.
So much more involved, it's awful. So I find this site and needing to vent. Where do I begin, or when do I just walk away. I already know I'm in for a lot of work, will it be one-sided, likely, which means I'm wasting my time on a man who has no desire to get help, he doesn't want to admit he has issues and is killing our marriage after only 4 years.
Now I know why the honeymoon was over after a few weeks of being married. Weird........
For the past 2 years he has gone fishing nearly every single day, I mean...who does that?!. Yet if I ask him if he loves me, he says he does, and has since the first day we met, and always will.
So that's what keeps me here, but I am too old and tired to go through all of this, mid 50's and I just wanted to be content with a partner, a friend I could trust and count on.
I'm so discouraged now, tired of my life, and can't fix another's life, I wouldn't know where to begin.....
If you can leave, leave....why would you stay?
Submitted by overwhelmedwife on
Why would you stay? Why?
Can you name 5 reasons why you should stay?
I can't give 5 reasons why I should stay.......
Submitted by catwoman707 on
Honestly, because I can't support myself now. I'm not even sure I can say I still love him, I'm sure not as I did when we got married at least. Too much damage done, so much disappointment. Betrayal with the lies. No cheating included, at least I give him that much.
I closed my store a couple years back and have dove in full time to rescue and the board for the humane society, and look for work but on and off, leisurely I guess. The past year since I can clearly see it's only going to continue to progress and I don't want this, I have been looking for work more regularly.
Perfect example, last night I had it out with him, brought this up again, and how he lied about it, and so many other things, stupid lies, but just the same, I don't think I could regain that trust again. One thing led to another and before long he was letting his guard down some, and even agreed it wasn't fair, and that he will call and get an appt. So he comes home from work in a better state towards me at least, but still wound up tight as I could hear him cussing out something in the basement he was working on that wasn't fully cooperating, so I tried to tread a bit lighter.....
So just now before I started writing this, it was 9:30 on a Saturday night, and I could hear him in his room, starting to cuss, having a fit, what now, with his 1/2" fuse.........
The neighbors across the street again!! He yells, and that effing barking dog, I can't ever sleep around here, and on and on and on and on, so what does he do? Leaves. Takes a blanket and pillow and leaves. Okay, going to sleep in your truck. Hmm. Sooo listen to how dead silent it is in the backyard where the truck is parked, why leave then I say.
I'll just go to Kaiser and get this piece of metal out of my eye then!, he yells.
Throwing a huge fit, wound up like I can't even believe. He scares my cats with his yelling and fits he has.
He is a mess...so here I sit, typing this, at now 10:30 at night, and he is gone. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND I CANT TAKE THE NOISE ANYMORE!! Yelling like a madman.
Fine then, GO.
This is just not right.
Oh, and when he said he would just go to Kaiser, I said well shoot, while you're there.......why not.....and he cuts me off, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DEALING WITH THAT!
Bummer, since that reason (getting help for ADHD) is exactly why you are like this right now dude...........TOTAL denial, YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND! You're so right, I do not. I do not.
Supporting yourself....
Submitted by overwhelmedwife on
I can understand being in that situation.
Is this forever? How old are you? Can you work and support yourself? If not, then you may feel stuck.
>>
WELL! Shame on me, I married him after meeting and falling madly in love, and a short, 6 month relationship.
<<<
One of the problems with getting "serious" or engaged early in a relationship, and then also getting married withi a short time is that we often learn that the person we "fell in love with" doesn't' exist.
If you married after a 6 month relationship, then likely you did feel "serious" quickly, and likely were "engaged" within a few short months.
People who have "issues" can hide them for several months. Early in the relationship, people are on their "best behavior," plus there isn't any "baggage" or "bad feelings" or "grudges" exisiting. As time goes on, annoyances pop up, the "real person" starts to emerge. THAT is the real person. That "fake person" that you're dating for the first few months doesn't exist.
Same Song different verse....
Submitted by c ur self on
I'm sorry you are dealing with this, it's been the story of my life also over the past 7 years...Mid-fifties here also...I know about the to tired to deal with it all feelings.
will say this one thing to you...Do your best to not put your confidence in, and place expectations on someone who will only cause you deep anguish of soul if you do. We all are just who you observe us to be, the heart is lived out in our words and deeds....Believe it....
I suggest you do your best to focus on all area's of your wellness. And, when things happen like last night you will be so much better off to not engage it....People who live such an emotionally charged life are just looking for someone to engage and suck into their issues to have a place to dump them....You're not responsible for any thoughts or actions that is produced by another individual....
So whether you stay or go....I hope a peaceful life for you!
C
Emotional Excess
Submitted by MelissaOrlov on
You talk about your husband being hyperactive, as well as emotionally all over the place. The emotional lability (faster and more extreme responses than would be expected in a given situation) is a characteristic of ADHD for many. (So is the hyperactivity for those with the "H"). It can, however, be set as a target symptom for the management of ADHD. My husband had a good deal of this for a long time - and he finally managed it (COMPLETELY) with medication. Took him a good long time to realize it was a symptom, though...not just that I was ticking him off!
I strongly suggest that you and your husband consider taking my upcoming live seminar for couples. We will cover treatment issues, emotional lability, setting target symptoms, how to get that first appointment actually made; why it's important to manage ADHD...all in the first session. We will also cover lying, trust, anger, communication...you get the idea. This may sound like I'm hawking my seminar...not exactly. It is a unique resource - the only place I know of where you (and, more importantly, HE) can hear that other couples are having the exact same issues and that it really, truly is related to ADHD - not that either of you are bad people...and that there are ways to manage things to make your relationship much better.
Another poster below asks "if you could leave, why would you stay?" and the answer to that question, typically, is that you fell in love with your partner for a reason...it's just that AT THE MOMENT the ADHD symptoms are getting in the way. Sometimes it will always be that way...but you don't know that yet, and you and your relationship deserve the opportunity to figure it out. There are no perfect relationships out there, and there are a lot of ADHD-impacted relationships that used to be awful but are now damned good - my own included. That isn't a guarantee of anything, but...
I will Hawk it for her;)
Submitted by c ur self on
Melissa has dedicated much of her life to helping people and marriages that are effected by the strain of living with and coexisting where add/adhd is present...The more we learn about what is really happening in our relationships, and Why it is happening the better off we are in understanding how to effectively manage and deal with the issues....
I am thankful for her help....
C
Thankful for Melissa's help
Submitted by Resigned2B on
I too, am thankful for her help. I'm 60 now, most of my six kids hate me and think my ADHD husband of 31 years is the patient hero. Her help for me? It just came about 25 years too late... No one can help me now...
╰╯﹏╰╯
So sorry
Submitted by overwhelmedwife on
<<<
I found out in April, 2014. He had been printing out fake 401k statement and would make loans against it in minutes. He put the money into paying his company's payroll without protecting it. He negotiated a 20% CUT in pay without telling me and then told me we were running out of money because I was spending too much.
Rather that to talk to me about finances tonight he, again, just wanted a divorce. Then he calls ME childish. I locked our door and told him to go file if he wanted to trash 31 years. This is a tactic he would use when I was drugged up on antidepressants, tranquilizers, and pain meds when HE was undiagnosed! Now I'm not on any of them and I call him on what he does and he HATES that and tells me we don't have a 'chance' of making it.
>>
I had to go back and read some of your old posts. Are your kids aware of any of this?
Adult kids...
Submitted by Resigned2B on
My husband could tell our kids he was Jack the Ripper and they would look at me and tell me somehow it was my fault...
What Liz did......
Submitted by I'm So Exhausted on
Resigned2B,
In reading these posts lately, I see myself. I had spent so much time justifying my spouses behavior, protecting his image, that my daughter though I was mean to him when I stopped doing it. Took quite a bit of time for me to do the right thing: stop changing/doubting/disliking who I was to keep him happy.
It was extremely difficult. I had to keep apologizing for what I had done, and keeping my boundary strong. . . . . by verbalizing how I had modeled for my children how to lose yourself. My actions taught them to play the "Peace at all costs game." The cost was Liz. . . .and in the end, it never really worked anyway.
Liz
EXACTLY
Submitted by jennalemone on
This is EXACTLY what our relationship was like all these years. Getting out of it, people are not going to like us for "upsetting" the serene picture we ourselves painted.
oh wow...
Submitted by overwhelmedwife on
So sad....sounds like they're not very deep thinkers.
It takes two
Submitted by MelissaOrlov on
This sort of financial deception, and the responses about childishness and divorce are hard to take.
Relationships, by their nature, take two participants. In order to learn to thrive, BOTH of you would need to make really significant effort and (it sounds) many changes and much hard work on his part...which he seems completely unwilling to provide. Which means that rather than rail against his comments about divorce, it may be time for you to work on figuring out what your next stage (without him) looks like. What will you do to make yourself healthy and whole, and what sort of relationship wth him would you like to encourage. It sounds as if you have kids, so that might mean trying to build something business-like. Or, if he's too negative, it might mean cutting most/all ties...you will need to figure out what will best serve your own purposes.
You can't get him to do anything he doesn't want to do - so no matter what you would like your relationship to look like, it will go in some direction that also reflects his anger, etc. I give the advice that you follow your conscience, and that you don't do anything that you wouldn't look back on and be proud to talk about, or at least not ashamed of. (Throwing clothes out of the second story window, as one woman did for example, might not be a great idea...)
This is a hard period, and I wish you all the support you need, and the courage and strength to get through it all...
A very good place to start
Submitted by I'm So Exhausted on
catwoman707,
I'm so discouraged now, tired of my life, and can't fix another's life, I wouldn't know where to begin.....
Maybe you can take a good look at that discouragement. I am thinking maybe you got discouraged trying to fix another's life? Maybe? Possibly?
Where to begin, is where I had to being close to 5 years ago. Begin with you. His life is his to do with as he chooses. (I know that, as I am living that.) It may be discouraging, disappointing, depressing. . . .a lot of things. So. . . .let go. Let him go..
In working on Liz, I went back to college. Still had my husband's life in my back pocket steering my goals. . .as I aimed for a business degree to "help" his business. I thought "Maybe if Liz has a College Degree in business- - -he will then see the value in her skills." . Pshaw! What I discovered, was that Liz's heart is where it has always been - - -with children. So, I changed my goal to Early Childhood Education. It added a bit more time to the arrival at my graduation date. . . . but when I do, I will be doing what Liz's heart was called to do.
Liz
Liz's heart
Submitted by notgonnalosemyself (not verified) on
I love this post. I love how you stopped giving time to a cause that was one-sided and wholeheartedly chose what you loved doing. So many times we sacrifice time and energy and bend over backwards, something that perhaps a "normal" would appreciate and reciprocate but often we are left depleted and our goals and dreams get put on the back burner. Once you wake up and say "hey, I am important too!" it all makes sense and you find that the boat you are helping keep afloat is not moving. So you paddle forward in your canoe. Awesome Liz! I know for me, I have become sedentary watching my husband do the same and give up on himself. But it's a new day, 25 years later. I am still young and have life in me.