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Old 07-08-2010, 09:19 AM
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transformyself
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Midwest
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Passive Aggressive support thread

I"m one of those codies that is NOT passive aggressive, but rather a screaming maniac when not in recover. So I attract PA guys. At least I attracted my AH -oh, sorry forgot I chased him down. There's my own denial again. Good old friend that she is.

I've let my boundaries slip with him again, my choice, and am re-establishing them. When I figured out AH was PA (before I found this site) it changed my life, because it identified the crazy making stuff and offered tons of tricks and ways of dealing with them.

That was SO instremental in helping me leave him. I found PAGES of instruction as to how to deal with PA men, how to help them understand their behavior and help them bla bla bla.

I"m in full blown angry mode again so all I want to do is help that guy kiss my angry butt.

Look at this
He may have multiple relationships with women as a way of keeping distant from one fully committed relationship. He is confused about which woman he wants and stays caught between the two women in his life not being able to commit fully to either. He is confused and can't understand why the women get so angry with him. He feels others demand too much of him so resists in overt and subtle ways and feels deprived if must give in to others. The man who copes with conflict by not being there has strong conflict over dependency. He desperately wants attention but fears being swallowed up by the partner. He can't be alone and live without a woman in his life, but can't be with partner emotionally. He's caught in a Catch 22--wanting affection but avoiding it because he fears it as his destruction. He resents feeling dependent on the woman so must keep her off guard. He makes his partner feel like a nothing through his neglect or irritability but he keeps her around because he needs her. His script is ‘Be here for me, but don't come too close and don't burden me with your needs or expectations.'
He has such strong fears of intimacy deep in his unconscious mind so he must set barriers up to prevent a deep emotional connection. He is clever at derailing intimacy when it comes up by tuning out his partner and changing the subject. He must withhold part of himself to feel safe and may withdraw sexually. Closeness and intimacy during sex may make him feel vulnerable and panicked bringing forth his deepest fears of dependency upon a woman. The passive aggressive man lives an internal loneliness; he wants to be with the woman but stays confused whether she is the right partner for him or not. He is scared and insecure causing him to seek contact with a partner but scared and insecure to fully commit.

Due to the wounding from childhood, he is unable to trust that he is safe within the relationship. He fears revealing himself and can't share feelings. His refusal to express feelings keeps him from experiencing his sense of insecurity and vulnerability. He often denies feelings like love that might trap him into true connection with another human being. He feels rejected and hurt when things don't go his way but can't distinguish between feeling rejected and being rejected. He pushes people away first so he won't be rejected. He is often irritable and uses low-level hostility to create distance at home. The relationship becomes based on keeping the partner at bay. He often sets up experiences to get others to reject or deprive him. He is noncommittal and retreats, feeling put upon and burdened by partner's requests for more closeness. He becomes a cave dweller to feel safe.

The man with passive aggressive actions is a master in getting his partner to doubt herself and feel guilty for questioning or confronting him. He encourages her to fall for his apologies, accept his excuses and focus on his charm rather than deal with the issue directly. He blames her for creating the problem and keeps her focused on her anger rather than his own ineptitude. When backed into a corner, he may explode and switch to aggressive aggressive behavior then switch back to passivity. He keeps his partner held hostage by the hope that he will change. He may appease her and clean up his act after a blow up for several weeks, then it's back to business as usual.


So I don't know about you but this makes me want to vomit. I don't want to figure him out, I don't want to take care of him, I don't want to work on these things, convince him of how happy we can be together--all of that is in the past.

I just want him to shut the hell up and go away. NC it is for me again, as much as I can with sharing one car and kid duty.

Last edited by transformyself; 07-08-2010 at 09:21 AM. Reason: swear words not astriked out
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