Something I found surprising.
It was only this past summer that I really came face to face with my husband's alcoholism, that I stopped denying the seriousness of his problem, even though he's been drinking heavily for 10 years now.
It wasn't long before I felt like I needed to tell people - I didn't want to carry this secret around, I felt like I was lying if I didn't tell my friends and family what was going on.
I expected to get support and sympathy, but instead I got a big surprise: nobody, not even my parents, seemed to really believe me even though I only told them the tip of the iceberg. They seem to think I am exaggerating, and don't want to talk about it with me. I have told them about some of the abuse in emails and they didn't respond.
The most hurtful thing, was that a person whom I thought was my good friend, when I told her my husband was an abusive alcoholic, accused me of making it up because I just wanted an excuse to get divorced and find someone new!
My sister, I told only a little bit to and she was so shocked I decided not to tell her anything else because I don't think she would believe me either.
It makes me sad to think that the life I live every day is so messed up that "normal" people can't believe what I tell them is true.
I know, there is Al-anon, and places like this, where people understand. And that's good. But it hurts that my friends and family think I'm exaggerating when I tell them how much my husband drinks, or some of the abusive things he says and does. I just didn't expect that. I thought at least my parents would give me the benefit of the doubt.