It’s been a year, and me (39M) and my wife (36F) have been intimate twice, separated by nearly six months apart.

I know our relationship has had issues, with financial stress and financial infidelity (5+ years ago, I withheld how bad our cash flow was, using debt to maintain our lifestyle). She has been stressed at her job of 3 years, and now she’s gotten a job that strictly is 8:30-5:30, with no carryover into her personal life.

She can’t let go of the pain I caused her. She feels she hasn’t had time to do so since she started working 5 years ago to help gain a foothold on finances.

This carries over to the bedroom. She has always had a lower libido, but it’s straight turned off. I don’t know how someone in a relationship can possibly handle that long (6+ months) without masturbation or intercourse.

At this point, it’s a huge pain point for us. She knows I desperately want to connect physically, but it feels like the path to her healing is a chicken or the egg dynamic. However, sex is unilaterally off if I’m trying to initiate.

Since I’m batting well below the Mendoza line, I told her I’ve had enough and I’m not pursuing her in bed going forward. The straw was my birthday. I spent the entire day trying to take her on a date and be romantic…not even a kiss or hug.

I just feel like I’m dying inside. I’m literally giving it six months or I’m filing for divorce. That will be her birthday present if we can’t find common ground. I would rather live in a shack, mired in debt and alone, seeing our four kids every now and then, then be this fucking miserable every night.

How the fuck do people cope with this?

  • nickwitha_k (he/him)English
    2•1 month ago

    How’s your communication? Is she aware of how you’ve been feeling? You state that you told her that you’re fed up but, have you actually talked to her about it?

    How about the kids? Are you taking on responsibilities there? How about around the house?

    Biggest suggestion would be that you two do couples therapy. Accept that it may not resolve everything but, it may help to repair civility, should divorce be in the future, you’ll need that for co-parenting.