My husband is addicted to an emotional affair

[awest1217]

Nicole,

I read your post on Lucky's page and I feel for you. If you ever have a chance to read my sitch, briefly, my H has had emotional affairs on and off for the last 10 years. We have been married for 4 so this has been a continual thing since we have been dating and on. Actually, I found out, it was going on the whole time we have been together with I would say about 6 different women through that time.

H needs to see a counselor. This OW is probably helping him have a fantasy world where he can get away from real life. It is his way of self medicating. He has this fantasy world with OW and when he realizes what he is doing feels bad, comes back, but then all the pressures return and he leaves again to get his fix instead do dealing with the issues. The best place to start is some type of counseling. It sounds like your MIL understands the situation and feels he has depression so maybe she can be some help in talking with H so it isn't coming from you. Definitely read as much as you can about how to handle and talk to depressed people so you can get some strategies of how to talk to H without being accusatory.

This is a horrible situation and being on this site helps a lot because there are a lot of people here who have been through this and can give advice. Stay strong and get a good support group who will support your decision to hold on to your marriage because you will need that support. It takes a while for things to get better, but stick to it and you will find the strength you need in the strangest places.