I’m really struggling in my marriage and I need outside perspective.
My husband and I have been together a long time, and we’ve had major trust issues in the past (including him hiding porn use for over a decade and some inappropriate emotional boundaries with a female coworker in the past that deeply hurt me).
Since then, I’ve been trying to rebuild trust, but I still feel very emotionally unsafe and hyper-aware of female coworkers and communication at his job.
Recently, there is a new female project manager, and even normal work communication between them has been extremely triggering for me. Things like emails or texts (even early in the morning) make me spiral and feel anxious and unsafe, even if nothing “wrong” is technically happening.
Things keep escalating between us because I have asked for reassurance and transparency, and he feels like I’m interrogating him. I feel like I’m constantly having to pull reassurance out of him instead of feeling it naturally.
We end up arguing a lot, and I have reached a point where I told him I feel emotionally exhausted, anxious, and like I can’t keep doing this cycle over and over.
He says he feels exhausted too and that I “cause the same issues for him,” and now we’re stuck in this loop where neither of us feels understood.
I love him and I miss how we used to feel, but right now I feel very disconnected, insecure, and emotionally overwhelmed in our marriage.
I guess I’m looking for perspective on:
– Is this something that can realistically be repaired after broken trust?
– How do couples rebuild safety after betrayal/trust issues?
– Am I asking for something unreasonable when I want reassurance and transparency, or is this something that can be worked on?
I’m just exhausted and don’t know how to break this cycle anymore.