I am very sorry you struggle.
You have a LOT going on.
I have suggested breaking up but still co-parenting
Partly the cheating is a huge trust issue for me. I actually met her when she was with another guy and she cheated on him with me.
emotionally it's not what I want in a relationship. I would rather break up
If you prefer to break up? Then I suggest you go for it so you can stop experiencing all this drama. You sound drained.
She says she missed out on being single in her 20s because she's been with me the whole time
Whose choice was it to be with you rather than play the field? Hers. She's blame shifting.
All this other stuff that sticks out from your posts to me?
- now she feels tricked because now we have children and she cant leave me.
- She says its OK if I leave her.
- she's saying it's all my fault if we break up.
- She's even mentioned if we break up she will take our children away from me and move to another country where her family is so they can be her support system.
- she says she can't (break up) because she is going through clinical depression and anxiety and is afraid she will not be able to survive on her own.
This sounds like up and down drama.
Push-pull stuff.
She's a really closed off person. A huge reason she doesn't want to go see a therapist with me. She says even if she does go see one she doesn't want to go with me.
Well, you don't have to choose to live your life with a closed off person who treats you poorly and doesn't sound all that compatible for how you want to do Open relationships. Just because people are Open, doesn't mean they agree on the
same KIND of open model to practice together. The "Open stuff" takes a backseat to the mental health stuff.
I suggest you ask her to see a therapist to get her up-and-down under control. It def sounds like a problem affecting the marriage.
She tells me when things are good she only wants to be with me and can't picture herself with anyone else. But when things are bad (not because I'm bad but this is not how she pictured life to be like) she wants an escape. Her natural tendency is to run away from conflicts and stress.
She's actually left us more than a few times and the one time I didn't try to stop her as I didn't want to be controlling. She was very upset with me and led to much more fighting. She's threatened suicide almost every time she leaves us.
Suicide gestures are a serious problem. I def place that as a higher concern than the "open stuff."
Have you called 911 or Baker Acted to get her to care when she is this way? Does it affect the children? Do you think she has a personality disorder? Maybe browsing
http://outofthefog.website helps you list what you have been experiencing. Then you can take that list to a counselor for YOU so you get professional support and advice in figuring out next steps.
I
strongly encourage you to seek professional care for yourself. I hope venting here helped you some but you have a LOT of layers going on here. More than internet people can help with.
In the end? If she is not willing to take personal responsibility for her mental health so being together isn't some up and down roller coaster turmoil?
You have to take personal responsibility for
your mental health. That may mean contemplating a different future
without her as your wife because being with her that way sucks you dry. If being divorced co-parents could work out better for your well being? Then you could go there and create the peace in your life that you want to have.
I think you could seek a counselor to support you emotionally while you file for divorce. Set it in motion and begin making co-parenting arrangements. If the children are old enough, ask them what they prefer in the event of a divorce. If she wants to live with the children in another country make the plan for visits and so on. Make your child and alimony support arrangements as needed. Offer to take full custody of the children if she wants to live more "free" so she can do whatever swinging she wants. But however you make the arrangements?
Get on with making them.
You cannot be living like this forever. You seem extremely unhappy.
I'm truly sorry for that.
Galagirl