My husband is losing interest in sex
Before we got married, sex was great. We used to have sex at least once per day. Within a week after the marriage he began to lose interest in it. Now it is once per week or once every 2 weeks, and when we do it it doesn’t seem like he wants to. It feels as though he is just doing it because I want to. He claims he is stressed about money, but I don’t understand why this would change the sex part of the relationship. In other areas as well, regarding my friends, where I go and with who, he has been controlling and yells at me on a regular basis. Things that he said he liked about me before we were married are now a problem for him. I am worried and stressed and I feel so unattractive. I have never had a problem like this with a man before. Do you have any advice on why this type of thing happens? Is this a common thing? What can I do to make things better. I feel as though we are growing apart, which is sad.
Advice: Men do change. We’d suggest that you seek a good marriage counselor. Ask your husband to come along to help you see the things that you do that stress him out. At first you need to own all of the problem, as it is necessary to get him there. When he yells start making a list of what the issues are. For some reason he seems to think that he has fallen off the hero pedestal. He is either frustrated or feels rejected, so he gets angry, which is a guys’ way of handling problems. The most of it is probably about him, but if you accuse him, he will only try to get more distance. Let us know how it goes.
I don’t know how long ago this was written and don’t know if your marriage is still intact but from what you’ve described your husband sounds like he’s got some very manipulative ways about him. You suggest he’s annoyed or jealous about the time you spend with your friends but before he didn’t mind it and now he withholds sex from you. Or doesnt act very interested. What it sounds like he’s doing is punishing you – now that you are “his property”…and no longer just his GF. He sounds controlling and making excuses about money, is… just that, an excuse to deflect what is really going on. He knows it’s putting you off-center and confusing you and that’s what narcissistic types do. They BLAME you and sabotage all your efforts to make sense of things. If he doesn’t knock this kind of behavior off – get out and get out fast!! Don’t think you can out wit or outsmart him. Narcissists always have to maintain control and are usually two steps ahead. They don’t know how to truly love or give – it’s all conditional and based on what you can do for them, or rather, how they can control you enough to satisfy their need to annihilate your self esteem which is always the outcome. These are very warped individuals and they CANNOT maintain normal relationships with anyone, especially ‘intimate’ ones. An extreme narcissist may even fall into the category of pyschopathic…so be careful if you do think about leaving, plan your exit strategy in secret. Tell him nothing and don’t let on to anything…just leave and NEVER again make contact with him unless its done for legal reasons and only use a PO box in another town. Sorry to be such a downer but I’ve known these types and have seen the damage they do and it’s terrible. Good luck.