Relationship: Framed as a danger, then broken up with

So I recently met a girl in my accommodation. She seems to have taken an instant liking to me. I didn't notice her at first at all. 

Eventually we went out on a date (both of us explicitly said that it was a date). She guessed I had autism and said she had autism, too. I felt safe with her because of this. 

When she asked about my dad, I said his name with anger. What followed was poorly-disguised pressure to try and get me to tell her what happened. By this point, this girl had very loudly let loose that she was 'into' my smile and hair and was being very, very sweet to me and so I felt safe telling her: that my dad was very abusive in my childhood. The only thing I didn't like about her behaviour up until this point is her alarming distrust of my ancestors (she's Polish and my grandfather served in the Soviet Army). 

So, I told her my father was abusive. 

Immediately, she began asking very upsetting and personal questions like 'Did you ever have any positive experiences in your life?' with an obvious undertone. 

The next morning led to a day full of agony for me. She loudly announced that she was taking back her decision to continue dating and that she would be, in other words, judging my behaviour and deciding if I was worth dating. 

The more serious wound was her implication that I was dangerous. She directly, to my face, said 'People who are abused become abusive'. 

I had to deal with this for the whole day. She progressively wound herself up into a massive nervous breakdown and began crying in front of me. I tried to comfort her (no matter how much it hurt to be judged like this). Her brother then called both of us- I already disliked him because my date had already said that her distrust of my ancestors was because of him. 

The first thing he asked me was 'So, your grandfather served in the Soviet Military...anything against Poland?". 

The thing about me is that saying something like that to me, especially when I'm with a broken heart, is probably the worst thing you could say to me. You can insult me all you like, call me any name you like, but leave him out of it. I never forgave her brother for that, no matter how hard I tried. 

Closer to the evening, my date began asking me if I'd block her if she said no. She wound herself up to tears again and began saying 'I'm not saying no! I'm still here!'. 

I was crying, too. The sight of how her lips moved when she was talking drove me to tears for some reason. 

The next month was awful for me. I felt ridiculously upset about being treated as a threat and dangerous. But she instructed me not to talk about it and said 'talking about it will make me decide longer' and all that. The day after I held her in my arms for 7 hours as she broke my heart, she said my eye movements didn't match my words, and accused me of being dishonest in saying so. 

She at one point said she didn't want me to- ever again- ask her things like 'When did you first dream of me?' (Even though she started that conversation first). I agreed. 

On the last day of our relationship, she suddenly began interrogating me. Some of the things she asked were:

'Why do you like me? You barely know me'

'How do you know you like me?'

The exact things she asked me not to ask her. I thought this undid her 'rule'. Then she accused me of communication differences and made a huge mess out of it, attaching herself to almost any word I said which implied I felt something for her and demanding explanations. 

I was extremely hurt (and also scared because of rapidly approaching interviews and flights), and asked her 'How much did I push you away?'. 

She exploded. After writing me messages saying she was 'very disappointed in me' and claiming she was 'extremely nice', she began demanding space. I gave it to her. 

She suddenly came back when she got scared about something else and wanted reassurance. When she calmed down she demanded space again. 

She broke up with me that evening, accusing me of dishonesty and for asking 'How much did I push you away?' when I allegedly promised not to (and I never promised that). 

Very soon, I'll be back in university and she lives on the floor below. If I'm honest, I don't want to see her at least until this stops hurting me (she on the contrary has trouble letting me go, it seems). 

So, I got broken up with again. 

More seriously, I am genuinely afraid now that I am a danger to everyone around me because of my abuse history. I don't want to turn into a monster, but her words and suspicion terrified me. 

  • I did tell her I wanted to stop interacting at all. 

    She broke that boundary, of course, but it doesn't matter to me now. 

    I said what I needed to say. 

  • I asked her to stop messaging me, but I was virtually pleading for her to 'let me go', saying this is unworkable

  • That's not at all what happened. 

    1) Actually what happened was she got very intense very quickly. I really enjoyed that- we were talking up to 2am in the morning, she was flirting rather heavily with me and we were planning new hobbies and languages together. 

    2) She began pressuring me, however. I hinted that there was something medical I'd undergo which scared me and she pressed until she told me. She also kept asking about my father, and I felt pressured. 

    3) I eventually did tell her because it seemed so important to her. 

    4) She then framed me as a danger, a risk, and her brother...

  • I wrote her a message today asking her to not talk to me again. I then began crying and pleaded for her to let me go in another message, saying it's better for me and her if we just acted like we don't know each other. 

  • I think you need to be ready to get a restraining order against one or both of them, meaning that they cannot contact you, or come within a certain distance of you.

  • Hi  

    I'm really sorry you've experienced this, this person sounds unstable. I hope you do not bump into her which I know will be difficult with her living so close to you. If you are able to keep evidence of the harassment you've been experiencing and share it with university, it might be helpful. I hope things get better for you! 

  • she began asking very upsetting and personal questions like 'Did you ever have any positive experiences in your life?' with an obvious undertone. 

    The way I read that situation is that you started out with an incredibly negative point when she was probably hoping you were a positive person who would bring happiness and hope into the relationship. It would explain why she pushed for you to find a positive track.

    Most people do not start a relationship talking about such heavy and negative things, even when asked - they will save these revalations until there is more trust between the two parties as it is such a difficult thing to discuss and, as you found out, often triggers other people.

    I'm not saying this as judgement but as explanation - we have all inadvertantly started an avalanche of a conversation at some time or another so it helps to reflect on why it went off the rails and how people are expected to behave (you don't have to behave that way but it helps to understand the consequences).

    I suspect things cascaded on both sides with you both being autistic and the damage control responses caused further issues. When the brother got involved he will naturally side with his sister and paint anyone who caused her to be upset to be a bad person - this is normal behaviour for siblings and friends where they defend their person regardless of whether they are right or wrong.

    I am genuinely afraid now that I am a danger to everyone around me because of my abuse history.

    I cannot offer advice but I can say what I would do in your situation. I would not discuss my abuse with anyone other than my therapist - it is such a difficult subject for others to respond to and your response to their response can lead down paths that are hard to deal with as you discovered.

    My response to her would be to just treat her like someone you know in passing, say hello but do not get into a conversation with her. If you find she is talking about your abuse behind your back then ask the management of the accommodation to speak to her as she is discussing your abuse and this is not acceptable to share. Being an autist she may not realise and I do not recommend direct confrontation but she needs to know there are consequences.

    As for how you feel about it - share this with your therapist (get one if you don't have one) and let them help you process it and develop your own, healthy responses.

    That is my opinion for what it is worth.

  • She searched everything she could find on me. A thorough background check. 

  • tbh if were going on history the Soviet Union was awful to Poland as well as the ***, but at the end of the day you arent your grand parents you didnt commit any atrocities so its not a you issue, I hope you can find some peace and get some separation between you two, it sound like she has a tendency of doing this, but im sure its gonna feel pretty bad no the less, anyone who is willing to search your internet history sound so weird 

  • Her brother somehow tracked down an opinion piece (she and him spent a day scouring the internet for everything they could dig up on me) I wrote five years ago on WWII about my ancestors (one of who died defending the Soviet Union in the most awful way imaginable) before insulting my grandfather on that call. 

  • I know it might seem like that at first but with some distance you will be able to see she is part of the problem, she doesn't sound healthy man.

  • yeah I think thats true , like everyone who's hurt me has been a hurt person but at the same time some people just want to brake the cycle, some people who have hard lives dont become terrible people ive seen it first hand their actually some of the best people I know, so he doesn't need to listen to what the woman has to say, if you have a good soul it will come out and you will know about it, what she thinks is irrelevant, and by that same logic she is undoable because she is a hurt person hurting other people, not nice .

  • A racist brother who insulted not just me, but my grandfather (without who I would not be alive) and my great-grandfather ( who died in the most horrifying way possible when fighting the *** in WWII). Treating me as dangerous and keeping me on edge for a month before breaking up. Demanding space, then panic-texting when travelling because of a little snow and then demanding space again. Breaking up, accusing me of being untrustworthy and then still wanting to 'keep' me in some way. 

    This was a really difficult time for me dating her. I was close to losing my patience. 

    Yes, this did happen before- without going into details she did tell me that I was her first date and when it almost happened before with someone else she pulled out at the last second 'because of what he did'. I never learnt what. 

  • bro you gotta cut that woman out she's mental, and the brother thing who the hell lets their brother call their date thats just levels of weird, she doesn't just sound autistic she sounds crazy leave and try to be around people who wont play games with you.

  • I was considering that. 

    It's not her I want distance from, though. It's her brother. 

  • Thanks. 

    I think I'm going to stop dating anyone (or even talking to people in university) for now. I just have one university term left before the exams begin and I graduate. 

  • Hello  

    Thank you for sharing this with the Community. I'm sorry to hear that you had this upsetting experience. You might like to have a look at our information on managing relationships, which includes advice around romantic relationships: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/family-life-and-relationships

    If you feel as though you may need some support with your mental health, such as through counselling, you may like to have a look at the following pages: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/seeking-help

    Please do reach out to the Community if you need support.

    All the best,

    Chloe Mod

  • That was a rough read

    Keep things simple, its obvious you arent good for each other so next time she tries to contact you tell her its best for the both of you to cut all ties.

  • I also suffered abuse as a child, some of it has shocked counsellors and therapists, I did not abuse my children, nor do I abuse anyone else, in fact I had therapy because I was determined that the cycle of abuse would stop with me and it has, I'm not saying I was a perfect parent, I wasn't and I don't think anyone is.

    This woman sounds toxic and messed up, you don't this sort of agravation, nor doe's anyone else, frankly I think she needs to sort herself out before getting involved with others in any romantic way.

    Ask the accomdation people if you can switch rooms to a building away from her, tell them why too, they may already be aware of her troubling behaviour. Maybe see a counsellor when you're back at uni, just to get this horrible experience out of your head and get some perspective on it.

    Please don't take all her problems onto yourself, I know its hard, but maybe sit down with a pen and paper and list whats her and whats you, she sounds like projecting all her fears and BS onto you and probably anyone else who'll listen. You're probably not the first person she's done this too and sadly you won't be the last either, and if she tells others about your "date" and her subsequesnt behaviour I wouldn't be surprised if other come out of the woodwork and approach you to tell you they or a friend have had similar experiences.

    Good luck and remember there's no inevitability in anytthing much at all, certainly not that someone who was abused will abuse others, some do but most don't.