Erin
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2004
- Messages
- 2,783
It almost sounds like you are afraid of yourself- not her. You''re afraid that you will cave. I still think avoiding her is a cop-out. But, I do understand how difficult it is when you are under someone''s thumb. Do you think that by dissappearing for a couple of hours after you leave her a note is going to make this problem go away?
Give her the note, let her contact you so you can tell her- "I''m done with you. Don''t contact me anymore." And then do just that! Don''t let her initiate contact with you, and don''t initiate contact with her. This problem isn''t going to just go away- it''s going to be a hard, painful process. Better to start it now because it puts you that much closer to being done with it.
One more thing, to think that she is going to "feel atleast the part of the pain that I have been going through" is a bit naive. She''ll just go find comfort with the other guy.
Mara,
I respectfully disagree with that. I think that she is bi-polar, and I think that this is the exact reason why you can not allow for the possibility of ever being in a healthy relationship (or any relationship) with her. I have a very close friend who is bi-polar, and has been in and out of therapy and on and off medication for years. As a result of knowing her so well, I am convinced of a few things:
1) She suffers from a legitimate mental illness that is not her fault or her choice 2) Still, the personality traits that go along with it are at the core of her being, and are a deep, fundamental part of who she is that she is unable to change. 3) She is incapable of being in a healthy relationship, and will probably never find any kind of lasting stability or peace.
Depressing, but true. Note I said LASTING stability or peace. She truly wants it, and she finds it in short, false bursts, but always completely destroys it in the end and starts from scratch. And this is a girl who (much of the time) recognizes that she has a mental illness and seeks help.
To me, it sounds like your ex-girlfriend, on top of being bi-polar and reckless (as bi-polar people usually are) is also extremely selfish, uncaring and immature. The stuff about disappearing & running from problems, being unable to commit to a stable lifestyle or to a person who loves you, feeling driven to be promiscuous and destructive, etc sounds very familiar to me. My friend was in a similar situation in a relationship where the man was very co-dependent and committed to “saving” her at all costs. It went back and forth for about a year, and was very volatile. She finally realized that she wasn’t capable of changing, even though she desperately wanted to, and that it wasn’t fair to him to keep telling him that she really wanted to change and be with him and live a stable life together (even though it was true) because she just wasn’t capable of it. Your ex-girlfriend may someday work through the selfishness and immaturity and come to the same level of self awareness and the same conclusion that she isn’t capable of giving you what you deserve. I’m sure part of her really loves you and wants what you’re offering, and wants to be the kind of person who deserves you, but she can’t carry this out no matter how much she wants to, and you can’t save her or help her no matter how much you want to.
Since she can’t admit this to herself and you, it will just have to suffice for you to really, truly know it, and to tell her in no uncertain terms. I personally think the gist of the breakup is as simple as “You have been abusive of me, and I refuse to be in an abusive relationship. I don’t think you are or will ever be capable of giving me the kind of commitment I need and deserve, and our relationship is officially and permanently ending now because of it. I really think you suffer from a mental illness and need help, but I can’t help you and don’t wish to have any future contact with you. Goodbye.”
Maybe you don’t want to get into telling her you think she has a mental illness - heck, maybe you don''t even think she has a mental illness. I personally think it would be good for her to hear it from you. Perhaps it will prompt her to do some soul searching and seek help down the line. But even if you aren’t convinced that a mental illness contributed to the way she treated you, or don’t feel that it’s your place to “diagnose” her, the bottom line is still the same.
Date: 2/22/2005 98:51 PM
Author: katrina_33
Kevin, this is ultimately about your own self respect.
Someday soon you will have the self respect it would have taken to confront her in person and really stand up for yourself at the time of the breakup. But, by then it will be irrelevant, because it will all be over and done, and you will be using your newfound self respect to do wonderful things and you won't have time to or want to revisit that chapter in your past.
For now, just recognize your own weakness in this respect for what it is, and at least don't set yourself up for failure by giving her your ear.
Fake it until you make it, I believe the saying goes!!!