Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

Partner possibly polyamorous?! What to do?

Hello!

I'm a woman in my late 20s and have been in a relationship for 10 years. I have anxiety and depression and have been on medication for the last five years.

A couple years ago, my partner met someone and became good friends with her. Couple months in, he started having feelings for her. In the meantime, we were thinking about getting married. Before the wedding, I was to travel abroad for a fellowship for two months. When I was away, my partner's friendship with this person grew stronger. Since she lived in another city, he travelled to her city a couple of times and once, they also spent a day together at a hill station. After I was back from the fellowship, we were to marry in less than a month. I was unsure about our future together, so we had a couple of conversations around his relationship with this other person. He said it was 'more than friendship' but without the physical/ sexual aspect. I was uncomfortable with this but since he kept me in the loop about all their meetings and since her partner was okay with her relationship with my partner, I tried to be okay with this special friendship. 

In less than a month into our marriage, I discovered one day that my partner had exchanged a few sexually explicit messages with someone else. This disturbed me to the core. I told this to his sister and the three of us had a long conversation about this. My partner was extremely sorry about the messages, apologized and said this would not happen again. However, this incident triggered something within me. I started feeling that maybe he is not monogamous, that he might be polyamorous. He likes to flirt with different women or likes to joke about doing so. He is proud of the multiple women who came into his life, showed interest in him or tried something with him. He however shares everything with me. I remembered another incident from when I was in college. He had texted one of my friends that thinking of her aroused him. She did not respond to this and he was the one who shared this with me. I was uncomfortable with this but did not say anything at the time. All this led me to think that he may be polyamorous and that might mean things maybe won't work out between us. He however didn't want to label himself anything and was unfamiliar with the term itself.

A few months went by and slowly life assumed a kind of normalcy, but his relationship with this other person remained a source of my discomfort and anxiety. I know I can be insecure and I always fear him leaving me, but having these triggers in the past led me to trust my feelings, despite me not wanting to be jealous, possessive or controlling. So I did not tell him explicitly how his relationship to this person was making me feel, in spite of it continuously affecting me. 

In the following two and a half years, he kept having deep, emotional exchanges with this person. Something akin to romantic kept developing between him and her. They had regular phone calls and he visited her once in a couple of months. By last year, we had had a few conversations about my discomfort with his relationship with this person. This started making him anxious as well. He was diagnosed with high blood pressure and he thought it is due to the stress in the relationship. I kept asking him to seek mental health support but he didn't show much enthusiasm for it. Finally, in November, when he was visiting her in her city, she took him to a psychiatrist there. She sat in with him for the consultation. The psychiatrist gave him some helpful tips and felt reassured after the visit. Him and her, also had a conversation about my depression, my discomfort about their relationship causing him stress. When he returned home and told me the details of this visit, I lost it. I felt like multiple boundaries were crossed. I felt betrayed.

Since then, I haven't been able to talk to him properly. When we did talk in December, it came up that maybe we are not right for each other. That gave both of us significant pain. We spent January and February together, in deep discomfort and pain. Our parents also came to know that we were struggling in the relationship and tried to help. In one of those conversations, my partner and his dad seemed to say that my mental health was making things worse, which made me feel really bad and attacked. 

I decided I needed my own space and moved to another city, where it's easier for me to work. I know I need to take time to heal, since I've seen a lot of pain in the recent past. I need to work on myself so that I am able to state my needs clearly and assertively, since my fear for speaking out has created confusion in the relationship in the past. But while setting up my own home and living independently brings joy, it also hurts. I miss him and I know I want to make things better. I just don't know how. We have had so many conversations where nothing has seemed to resolve. In fact most conversations have resulted in both of us feeling bad. I'm in individual therapy and we have tried couple's therapy, but my partner is not very enthusiastic about it. In fact of the five sessions we have had, all have made him sad, angry or both. I don't know what the way forward is. I don't what to ask him going forward. I would appreciate all the suggestions and advice.

11
User Profile: toughTiger6481
toughTiger6481 March 19th

@independentZebra1024

         I think so many think they can have an emotional friendship and maintain a relationship, but many go farther. I think it is way out of line for a person to talk to a psychiatrist about a mental issue of a third person. Has she EVER met you? ... I doubt it happened unless DR was very unprofessional.      Counseling does not work if a person does not really actively participate in it.

Your partner being angry or sad after a session seems like he knows what he should do in distancing himself from her but simply does not want to do it.  if he did, he would see this is more of a fantasy of having both and then forced to choose... what happens if he says he wants her and she wants her partner more... lots at risk to move on losing you and maybe even losing her as a friend or a possible partner too. 

We cannot fix others only ourselves .. the things you wrote about him being happy or thrilled other people flirted and showed interest in him maybe in past he has felt unattractive or uninteresting a low self-esteem thing. I had a friend who was very supportive told me I was great and helped my self-esteem while my partner was one who was so filled with his own self esteem never occurred to him that I had doubts about myself.   maybe she is like that for him. 

You were told she is in a relationship and her partner you were told is OK with it.    Notice all the items you are getting as 3rd party where you cannot verify the truth of how they feel about it or if they know. 

Maybe you can suggest a meeting all four of you..... why?   because when reality is right in front of them, they may see how this is only hurting people.  They need to choose.   

Every situation I have seen firsthand in POLY ended with all hurt and broken up. 

5 replies
User Profile: independentZebra1024
independentZebra1024 OP March 19th

Thank you so much for engaging so well, it means a lot.

When we decided to get married, she called me to congratulate and in the same phone call said she might be poly. I didn't know how to react to that but we chatted cordially.

In the past three years or so, I have met her (and her partner) a couple of times, twice accompanying my partner on a visit to their home in the other city. We also chat once in a while but not very frequently. While I do not exactly know if her partner is truly okay with her relationship to my partner, I've seen him on friendly terms with my partner. Since the three of them seemed so happy and comfortable, I felt like I had to bury my discomfort, as I was the only variable with problems.

1 reply
User Profile: toughTiger6481
toughTiger6481 March 19th

@independentZebra1024

it is not you it is them so many go along to try to keep the peace but i have not so far seen anyone successful in that. 

load more
User Profile: Cococaramel01
Cococaramel01 March 27th

@toughTiger6481 I have read everything that was said here and to be very honest. I’m sending you virtual hugs because this must be a very tough situation to be in, and having so many feelings and considerations for somebody who doesn’t seem to quite consider you in that kind of situation can be hurtful. 


Relationships can be very trivial and very complex, especially when it comes to, what crosses a boundary and what does not. There’s a thin line between what crosses the boundary in a relationship to be very honest. 
It is not a bad thing for your partner to have a friend of the opposite sex, but if your partner actually cares and considers you,  maintaining boundaries between opposite sex is very important, and based off of all you’ve written it seems like you know what’s the right decision to make in this case, but I understand why it seems so hard. There's a lot of conflicting emotions; you like this person and you are attracted to this person. You probably love him too and it must be hard imagining how life would be without him in it. 

But one thing I want you to know is that sometimes people take advantage of the way we care about them, and when they see that we care about them so much, and we allow them to cross boundaries over and over again they stop considering us, they stop thinking about us before they even try to make certain decisions that they know might hurt us. 

I’m really sorry that they had to push most of the blame on you and attribute it to your mental health, there is nothing wrong with you. I feel like based on everything you said you’ve been very reasonable with the whole situation and you’ve been very understanding and considerate. 

You have even gone to do couples therapy which I think is very healthy. It’s a very healthy step to take, and couples therapy takes both parties and not just one person so if your partner keeps coming back from the therapy angry and having those negative emotions, this is something that you need to sit down with your partner and actually ask yourselves. Is this a healthy relationship? Is this what you want to feel like in a relationship?  
And at the end of the day, choose a decision that you know that if you're in a position to advise your friend, what would you tell your friend?

I wish you all the best and I really am really hoping and know that at some point you would make a decision that puts you first because you are important, and you deserve to be loved in a healthy way and in a way that you don’t have to constantly be anxious or constantly worry.
2 replies
User Profile: Cococaramel01
Cococaramel01 March 27th

@Cococaramel01

Sorry this was supposed to be for the original poster.

User Profile: independentZebra1024
independentZebra1024 OP March 29th

Thank you so much for engaging. It really means a lot!

load more
load more
User Profile: Aayla
Aayla March 19th
@independentZebra1024 polyamory is not simply being able to feel attraction to multiple people: it's a relationship choice, the choice to be open and honest to all people involved about how you experience feelings and attractions, and only engaging in those with the full consent of all people involved.

What he did to you does not sound like polyamory, it's just straight emotional cheating (more than just emotional, on certain occasions). He didn't share his feelings with you unless confronted, and even then, he just continues doing whatever he feels like without regard for how it affects you. You did all you could to accomodate him and mend the relationship, but he keeps letting you down. You can't be the only one who truly cares about making things work for everyone. It's exhausting, unfair and not even worth it, because his behavior shows he doesn't have the same level of care and respect for you that you have for him. 
I know you still care for him and it's hard to move on but trying to save something with no strong basis to work on can only drain you and make things worse in the long run. You did the best you could and the effort was not mutual. Choosing to prioritize your own well-being is the best gift you can give yourself.
1 reply
User Profile: independentZebra1024
independentZebra1024 OP March 19th

Thank you so much for this. I needed to hear this, even though it's difficult to.

load more
User Profile: sadcat13
sadcat13 March 19th

@independentZebra1024 sweetheart. You typed out all of this and still have no idea what to do? Your depression and anxiety has a magical reason called your partner is a cheating *** who you can't even rely on for basic emotional safety. You deserve better.

User Profile: Cococaramel01
Cococaramel01 March 27th

@independentZebra1024

I have read everything that was said here and to be very honest. I’m sending you virtual hugs because this must be a very tough situation to be in, and having so many feelings and considerations for somebody who doesn’t seem to quite consider you in that kind of situation can be hurtful. 


Relationships can be very trivial and very complex, especially when it comes to, what crosses a boundary and what does not. There’s a thin line between what crosses the boundary in a relationship to be very honest. 
It is not a bad thing for your partner to have a friend of the opposite sex, but if your partner actually cares and considers you,  maintaining boundaries between opposite sex is very important, and based off of all you’ve written it seems like you know what’s the right decision to make in this case, but I understand why it seems so hard. There's a lot of conflicting emotions; you like this person and you are attracted to this person. You probably love him too and it must be hard imagining how life would be without him in it. 

But one thing I want you to know is that sometimes people take advantage of the way we care about them, and when they see that we care about them so much, and we allow them to cross boundaries over and over again they stop considering us, they stop thinking about us before they even try to make certain decisions that they know might hurt us. 

I’m really sorry that they had to push most of the blame on you and attribute it to your mental health, there is nothing wrong with you. I feel like based on everything you said you’ve been very reasonable with the whole situation and you’ve been very understanding and considerate. 

You have even gone to do couples therapy which I think is very healthy. It’s a very healthy step to take, and couples therapy takes both parties and not just one person so if your partner keeps coming back from the therapy angry and having those negative emotions, this is something that you need to sit down with your partner and actually ask yourselves. Is this a healthy relationship? Is this what you want to feel like in a relationship?  
And at the end of the day, choose a decision that you know that if you're in a position to advise your friend, what would you tell your friend? 

I wish you all the best and I really am really hoping and know that at some point you would make a decision that puts you first because you are important, and you deserve to be loved in a healthy way and in a way that you don’t have to constantly be anxious or constantly worry.

User Profile: sarakind
sarakind April 19th

It is incredibly brave of you to share such a long and painful journey. It is clear that you have spent a decade pouring your heart, patience, and resilience into this relationship, often at the expense of your own peace of mind. To have navigated ten years of commitment while managing anxiety and depression is a massive undertaking, and it sounds like the repeated crossing of your boundaries has left you feeling understandably exhausted and betrayed.

The pain of having your private mental health struggles and his own psychiatric care shared with the very person who caused you so much discomfort is a profound breach of trust. It is also deeply unfair that you were made to feel as though your mental health was the primary source of the relationship's strain, especially after you spent years trying to be supportive of a "special friendship" that made you feel insecure.

Taking the step to move to a new city and build an independent life is a huge testament to your strength. It is completely normal for that independence to feel bittersweet, bringing both a sense of joy in your own space and the heavy ache of missing a partner who has been part of your life for so long. You have earned this time to heal and to reconnect with your own needs without the constant noise of conflict or the pressure to fix a situation that has caused you so much deep-seated pain. Please be gentle with yourself as you navigate this transition, as your feelings and your need for safety are entirely valid.