I spoke to Mensline yesterday. Their response wasn’t particularly helpful. The counsellor I spoke to suggested that my actions ie stopping my wife from driving to hospital with our two children and dog(!!!) in the middle of the night could have been taken as being aggressive by my wife. From her perspective anything I do or say is aggressive at the moment. If we were to reverse the situation and I was driving the car and she was standing in front of it to prevent leaving with our kids and dog I would still be viewed as the aggressor.

I despair at this double standard where men are constantly judged as being aggressive when I simply wanted to avoid my wife causing further distress to the kids. If I had simply let her go the possible fallout of that would have been worse for everyone of us.

I fear for the long term future of my children should my wife and I separate permanently. I feel the whole situation is out of control and we are heading to an inevitable conclusion where my wife’s episodes drive the wedge further into the divide between us that already exists.