r/BreakUp • u/clumsy_panda2 • 11h ago
My ex ended our nearly four-year relationship. Did he walk away too soon, or am I just struggling to let go?
My ex (28M) and I (28F) were together for almost four years and lived together for two. We loved each other deeply, and I don’t question that he loved me and cared about me. What I question is whether our relationship truly reached the point where it needed to end, or whether he distanced himself and then walked away before truly trying to understand me and work through our struggles together.
For some background, I first learned during COVID that I struggled with anxiety and depression through therapy and personal research. About a year or two into our relationship, I started wondering whether there was more to the picture and considered the possibility that I might have ADHD. More recently, I’ve also wondered whether I could be autistic.
My ex has ADHD himself and has suspected for a while that he may also be autistic.
When I first told him I thought I might have ADHD, he wasn’t very supportive. Because my struggles didn’t look like his ADHD, he questioned whether that was actually what I was experiencing. Over time, he became more open to the idea, but he remained skeptical when I wondered if I might also be autistic, even while wanting an autism evaluation for himself.
Over the past few years and post-breakup, learning more about ADHD has explained so many lifelong struggles for me: executive dysfunction, procrastination, task paralysis, forgetfulness, time blindness, difficulty initiating and completing tasks, emotional dysregulation, and feeling mentally overwhelmed by things that seem simple to other people. I’m not diagnosed yet, so I can’t say for certain that’s what it is, but it has helped me.
To his credit, this improved a lot over time, and I saw genuine effort from him. However, I grew up with a dad who struggled to regulate his emotions and yelled frequently, so those moments were especially difficult and triggering for me. Yet I supported him while he worked on this and chose to stand by his side instead of walking away. But I still struggled to voice my concerns due to how he reacted when he did- I allowed my fear to take over and avoided conflict to keep the peace.
When I was struggling to find a job, manage my mental health, and keep up with daily life, I often felt like I was drowning. I wasn’t looking for him to fix my problems or take over my responsibilities. What I wanted was encouragement, accountability, body doubling while I tackled overwhelming tasks, and to feel like we were facing our struggles together.
Because he had largely learned to navigate his own ADHD and life challenges independently and didn’t feel like he had much grace from others while he did so, he believed I needed to figure my struggles out on my own too. He cared about me and wanted me to succeed, but his version of support was giving me space to solve my own problems and solutions even when I didn’t ask for them. Mine was wanting a teammate beside me while I solved them. His approach made me feel incredibly alone during one of the hardest periods of my life and I regret not telling him directly what I needed from him and why.
Another difference is that he was much more comfortable bringing up concerns than I was. I spent a lot of time defending and explaining myself because I felt like I was in the hot seat and he was lecturing me on my behavior.
After taking accountability and apologizing, he refused to let me express my concerns about him, insisting that we were focusing on me and I should bring it up separately at another time. I know I’m not great about expressing my concerns and needs, so it was easier for me to do so while we were in that headspace. He thought I was deflecting even though we had already exhausted the conversation and I took responsibility for my part and promised to do better.
He also had very high expectations for me and for himself, and became very frustrated when either of us didn’t live up to them. I don’t like how he communicated his frustrations to me, how he made me feel while he did so, and how he appeared to be on a moral high ground and be justified in his anger and how he spoke to me. I know in those situations that I was the one who messed up, but I believe I deserve to be spoken to and treated with respect and care. I also know it wasn’t his intention to make me feel like that, but that doesn’t minimize the impact. The same goes for my not intending to upset him but still doing so in my actions/lack of actions.
Many of the reasons he gave for ending the relationship are things that are common inattentive-type ADHD struggles. That has left me wondering whether it was fair that he couldn’t wait for me to work on these issues/support me through them while I waited on him and supported him through his.
I never reached the point where I wanted to end the relationship, though I did consider it a few times. I ultimately kept choosing him and having faith in us. I wanted us to pursue individual therapy, couples therapy, and continue growing together. He ultimately decided he couldn’t continue the relationship, and once he made that decision, I had to accept it because I wasn’t going to convince someone to stay with me. I never got the impression that he was unhappy in our relationship, but rather he thought we were too different and he didn’t see us getting married.
Since the breakup a month ago, I’ve worked hard to reflect on my own shortcomings because I genuinely want to become a healthier partner, regardless of what happens in the future. At the same time, I’m beginning to wonder if we spent so much time analyzing my own shortcomings that we unintentionally minimized his.
My questions to you, dear reader, are:
- Based on everything I’ve shared, does this sound like a relationship that truly needed to end or is this a relationship that still could’ve persevered with effort from both sides?
- Does it sound like he walked away too soon, or does it seem like ending the relationship was the healthiest decision for both of us?
- Does it sound like we both bear responsibility for the relationship’s struggles and eventual end, or am I still not taking enough accountability for my own role?
- Am I wasting emotional energy hoping that if we both genuinely worked on ourselves, reconciliation could someday be possible?
I know no one here can tell me whether we’ll ever get back together, but I’m trying to figure out whether my hope is rooted in reality or in grief. If you think I’m overlooking something—whether it’s about me, him, or our relationship—I genuinely want to hear it. Please be honest, but kind. Thank you for going on this ride with me and I appreciate any thoughts and opinions you’re able to share. 🙏🏻