Hi Bethany, my name is Dina and I read or post daily. I dont know how to chat one to one but if you would like to post I will be sure to read it as other wonderful women on this site as well. It is a place to share and be safe. Talk to you soon.

Hi Bethany. Welcome to this site. es, I agree with Dina, port here whenever yu need to and someone will be sure to reply. I will add my opinion too. THis is a great place to be to cry or vent or whatever you need to do.

Bethany, you wrote: "He tells me I'm mentally ill and corrects me with things as small as what side of the sink to put the dishes on".

That's exactly what happened to me. He was always telling me I was mentally ill and not actually which side to put the dishes on, but other things. For instance, if I wrapped a piece of cheese in saran wrap, he would take it out of the wrap and re-wrap it with a new piece. I mean, there was absolutely nothing I did right in his eyes.

I read your post and thought "Bingo!" That's exactly the way it was with my ex.

Welcome. I hope you come here often. It helps a lot.

You are not alone. My husband always had the need to be in control and he would tell me how to do something or put me down in a sarcastic kind of way. His father, who lived with us for a while was the same way. I felt my home belonged to my ex and his father. No matter what I did they always had some kind of comment or would try to take over something I was working on. Try living with two men like this and my youngest is so much like his father and grandfather in that he was always a very needy demanding baby who wanted constant attention. I love both my boys with all my heart, but I pray they do not grow up with the same manners and values as their father and grandfather. I have learned that controlling people are very insecure and hence...their need to control. They can be very selfish to because they control to get what they want in life whether it bothers others or not. Many people have noticed how controlling my ex is as well. Don't know how his girlfriend handles it, but now she has to live with both these selfish men and I feel so much freer not having people breathing down my neck anymore. There were some of my friends and even my ex's sister who wondered how I could live with both my husband and my father-in-law... They are from a very "strong in tradition" Italian family and what the men said went...for me it went bye-bye with this divorce. I had to learn to live letting things go in one ear and out the other or I would have gone crazy. Well, I don't have to worry about that anymore.

Susan
As Martin Luther King would say...Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty free at last!!!!

Hi Bethany. This is a good chat forum & supportive women. I've posted for quite some time off & on. I change my user name at times to remain incognito because I worry (probably don't need to as much now but who knows) if my ex tracks me.
There are support groups online for women that are dealing with divorce. You might google/search women + abuse, also, if your husband is narcissistic or psychopath natured, there are support groups for this as well.
I utilized them heavily during different splits. When we finally did divorce I felt the need to just be still for a number of months but support groups are a huge help.
Sometimes the local YWCA if there is one in your area is familiar with women's supports for domestic abuse/violence.
It's been quite a while since my marriage ended (almost 2 yrs) & I still have a very hard time wrapping my head around all of what he did to me/ my life/ our life. It still blows my mind.
I have since found stability in my environment BUT putting my life back together will take a lot longer.
I think healing comes from sharing ... it's good that you are reaching out.
Hugs!