Originally Posted by
LostGuy 
It is so crazy, and I have had this experience more than once now that all is out in the open and her drinking isn't a big secret I feel I have to keep from family and friends, it is so crazy when people point out ways I have been manipulated that I never saw before. I just find it so hard to believe that this woman I loved, who was sweet and wonderful when not overly drunk, was scheming and manipulating me consciously. Is this something alcoholics do unconsciously, or was I completely wrong about the person she really was, if she didn't have all the alcohol-related problems???
I was amazed at the number of folks who talked to me after I left my AH and literally congratulated me on leaving him. They all knew he was an alcoholic using me and had all apparently been wondering just how long I would put up with it.
I think my AH managed to convince himself that what he was doing wasn't really using me or manipulating or anything bad. He is very good at living in an alternate reality. He has convinced himself of all sorts of things to make himself comfortable in his little world. {shrug** All part of the disease I think.