I’m a 41 year old living in Melbourne with my wife and our daughter, who’s just about to hit her teenage years.
I’ve been feeling really alone in my marriage. I’ve made a few mates through work who live nearby – great people, all in relationships, but I often feel like I can’t fully join in because my wife struggles to connect with others. It’s like she always needs to be the centre of attention, and that makes things awkward.
A while back, she had an affair with a former coworker. At first, she was sorry and asked me to stay for our daughter’s sake. But over time, she started downplaying it, saying it was just a friendship and that I blew it out of proportion.
Since then, I’ve felt more and more disconnected from her. I’m exhausted. Any time I express a different opinion, it turns into a massive argument, and we’ll go weeks without speaking. Then we’ll reconnect briefly- talk, have sex, things feel ok, but it never lasts. Within days, we’re back to silence. She has manipulated the daughter to think that I want divorce because I do not like family
I’ve reached a point where I just want to leave. I’m waiting until our daughter is older and more independent. But in the meantime, I feel incredibly lonely and honestly, pretty low everyday.