I'm sorry this is so long:
I am in a relationship that I know is hurting myself and my children, but I don't seem to be able to walk away from it no matter how much I think that I want to. We have been together for three years and have a two year old daughter together-- I also have a six year old son from a previous relationship. He is much older; he is 47 and I am 26. When we first met he was living with one woman and dating several others. I was not interested in him, nor attracted to him at first. After we had known each other for several months he put a knife to my throat and forced me to sleep with him. Rather than going to the police, having him arrested, getting a restraining order...etc...it was like I instantly fell totally, obsessively in love with him. Everything went downhill very quickly after that. I soon became pregnant and asked him to leave the other women he was seeing. He explained to me that he was with them, one in particular, because they were "in his corner"...that they would do things for him that I wouldn't and that if I wanted him to be with me I needed to prove that I was as "loyal" as they were. I quickly decided that that was what I needed to do...so I "proved my loyalty" by stealing the items that he wanted me to from a retail store. I was caught and arrested-- five months pregnant. I was released because I had no criminal history and ordered to seek psychiatric and theraputic services. He was subsequently arrested and served a year in prison. I lost my family, who will no longer speak to me because of the choices that I made, I lost my apartment (my foster family owned it), I lost my son for five months, and I dropped out of college. For the year that he was away things were so much better. I worked hard at repairing my life. I participated in the court-ordered counseling services and parenting classes, was given back custody of my son, secured a beautiful apartment, and gave birth to my adorable little girl. 11 months ago he was released from prison and I can feel my life beginning to start that same downward spiral. Our relationship has always been, and continues to be very violent. I know it is not healthy, but I like it...I find myself thinking "if he wants me badly enough to make me sleep with him, he must really love me" "if he really wants to be with me, he will force me to stay". He has always been abusive to women and several of his ex girlfriends have restraining orders. He has threatened to kill me. He has taken me into the mountains in the middle of the night, and shown me where he would burry me when he did decide to kill me. During the brief periods in our relationship that were non-violent, I was unhappy and bored. I felt that because he had hurt other women more than he had hurt me, he didn't love me the same way that he loved them-- so I began intentionally doing things to make him angry. He continues to see other women while he lives with me...well actually I have no "proof" of that, but everything seems to point in that direction. He stays gone for days at a time and offers no explination for his absence. He gets very angry when I question him about it. Every time he stays out all night I call him obsessively (literally several hundred times) then pack his things and set them near the door and hope for the strength to end it for real this time. I break up with him as soon as he walks in; I yell & throw his things outside; I tell him that I never want to see him again. As soon as he walks away I feel physically sick, I start throwing up, I feel shaky, dizzy, and hot all over; I feel as though I don't want to live. In those situations I have thought many times about killing myself, but then I think about my children finding me dead and I don't want to put them through that. Soon I call and beg him to come home. I hate the way that I feel when I am with him...but I feel worse when I am without him. I need to stop this, if not for myself...then for my children. Although we do not engage in physical violence in front of them, they are very intuitive, bright kids and I'm sure that thay have some idea about what is going on. Also, I feel like I am very emotionally unavailable to them because I am so wrapped up in him. I know that he is dangerous; he is on psychiatric medication and is diagnosed as bipolar and a sociopath. My psychiatrist keeps changing my diagnosis, so I can not tell you exactly what it is at this time, but after reading the description of borderline personality disorder I believe that that is the most fitting. I need to stop this. The logical, rational part of me truly wants to, but a deeper part of me does not. Any advise/help would be much appreciated.
*** Update:
I thank all of you for your responses. It seems that a higher power has intervened and made the decision that I could not. I can't help but think that all of your prayers and well wishes must have had something to do with this. He has been arrested for another shoplifting charge and because of all of his previous felonies the District Attorney is asking for the three-strikes law to be applied. He has a no-bail parole hold. It appears that he will be serving quite a long time in prison. While I do miss him...I know that this is for the best. I plan to use this opportunity to start a new life for my family.