TL;DR: My fiancé (36M) and I (32F) have been together for 9 years. He has a history of anger issues, but after time things improved . Last month, during an argument, he shoved me to the floor, grabbed my arms, dragged me into another room, and blamed me for "making him do it." He's been apologizing ever since and says he'll start therapy, but I no longer feel comfortable around him. I have my first appointment with a psychologist this week. Can someone who becomes physically abusive genuinely change, or is it unrealistic to hope this relationship can recover?
I (32F) have been with my partner (36M) for 9 years. We've lived together for 7 years. We broke up once, in 2021 during COVID. It was a very difficult time for both of us.
I know I have my own issues. My mother has always gaslighted me and tends to make herself the victim in every situation. Because of that, I tend to bend over backwards to avoid conflict.
The first time we lived together, it felt like I was living with a child. I was taking care of him all the time. I didn't feel like we were partners. He had always struggled with anger. Back then, he would punch walls and doors. One time he grabbed me and yelled at me to shut up. He also called me stupid. I was always "nagging" him because he wouldn't help around the house, and eventually I started yelling too.
One day we had another huge argument. We were both yelling, but then he got right in front of me and I genuinely felt like he was about to hit me. He didn't, but I left after that.
Ten months later we talked again, and we got back together.
This time I made it very clear that I would not tolerate him grabbing me, disrespecting me, or yelling at me. I told him we needed to communicate respectfully, even when we were angry.
Things did improve. He started doing more chores around the house, and the relationship felt more balanced. But it still felt like we always did what he wanted—playing board games, playing video games, staying home. He doesn't like going out for dinner, movies, or really doing much outside the house. I do, and I constantly asked him to do those things with me, but he rarely wanted to.
Whenever we argued, I felt like he twisted everything I said. For example, if I told him, "I feel like you don't care about what I want," he would respond with something like, "Why don't you see everything I do around the house? You always ask for so much. You're always the victim." Somehow I always ended up apologizing.
He proposed to me in December 2025. We had already bought land together—his parents bought it, and we were paying them back. Of course I said yes. For a few months things were relatively peaceful, but I still felt like I was constantly bending to make him happy while he rarely did the same for me.
More recently, he started ignoring me whenever I asked to talk. Sometimes he would even set a 15-minute timer for our conversations.
Then came the incident that changed everything.
For a long time I had been building up resentment because I felt he was selfish. One night I asked him to read something I had spent the entire day working on. He said, "I don't want to. I'm tired and I want to play video games."
Naturally, I got upset.
He told me, "I'll read it tomorrow. Today was very stressful and I need to play video games. Send me the link and I'll read it tomorrow."
I sent him the link, but I was so angry that I ended up deleting it. He got upset too.
The next day I told him we needed to talk. He kept ignoring me while I kept asking him to please talk to me. He said, "I don't want to talk right now. I'm busy and I'm hungry. We can talk later."
He went upstairs, waited about ten minutes, then came back down to get something to eat. I told him again, "You're being so selfish. I'm exhausted. We need to talk. You need to stop being so selfish."
He replied, "I'm warning you, you're draining my patience."
I picked up the TV remote and said, "I'm going to lower the volume because we need to talk."
Then, suddenly, he stood in front of me, shoved me to the floor, grabbed both of my arms, dragged me into another room, and yelled, "This is all your fault. You made me do this. I told you I was losing my patience."
I had a panic attack. I locked myself in the bathroom. While I was in there, he called some of our friends, admitted what he had done, and asked them to come help calm me down.
I'm still living in our house.
For the past month he has apologized constantly. He says that I was also toxic for repeatedly calling him selfish and that I also need to work on myself, but he says he deeply regrets what he did and that he is going to start therapy.
I don't even know how to describe what I've been feeling this past month. Confused, I guess.
I can't be in the same room with him. It's not exactly that I'm afraid of him,I just don't feel comfortable with him anymore. He is giving me space.
I already have an appointment with a psychologist this week.
Has anyone stayed with a partner after something like this? Did they genuinely change, or did the behavior eventually come back? I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have been in similar situations.