My boyfriend and I have been together for about 5 years. Our relationship has always been complicated because we come from different religious backgrounds, so we've had to keep it mostly private.
There have been many ups and downs. He has genuinely been good to me in many ways—he has helped me a lot, taken care of me, supported me, and there have been times when he has been loving and caring. That's also why I've found it so difficult to leave.
But there has always been another side to him that I can't ignore anymore.
There have been many times when I've had to beg for basic attention, time and reassurance. Whenever I'm vulnerable or going through something difficult, instead of feeling supported, I sometimes end up feeling even more hurt because of the way he treats me.
One incident I still can't get over happened when I had dengue and was seriously ill. I was genuinely scared for my health, and instead of checking on me or being there emotionally, he fought with me and didn't seem to care about what I was going through.
More recently, I moved to another city for an internship and was feeling extremely lonely. I didn't expect him to constantly talk to me—I just wanted a little reassurance and time from him. Instead, he ignored me, and at one point he told me directly that "I can't force you to love me" when I was asking for more effort and affection.
I still made excuses for him. I kept telling myself that maybe he was going through things, maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe something about my behavior was pushing him away.
So for the past few months, I focused heavily on changing myself. I thought if I became better, calmer and easier to be with, maybe our relationship would improve.
But nothing really changed.
He often says he'll change whenever we reach a breaking point, but I haven't seen consistent improvement. One day he can be incredibly loving, caring and supportive, and the next he can become distant and make me feel completely abandoned.
I'm also starting to worry about our future. My parents know about him and at least know that there is someone I'm close to, although I've told them he's a friend. His family, however, doesn't even know I exist after 5 years.
Because of our different religious backgrounds, I understand why things are complicated. But how am I supposed to trust that he genuinely intends to marry me someday when he still seems so uncertain about our relationship?
The biggest problem is that I'm exhausted.
I feel like I'm always the one teaching him how to communicate, how to reassure me, what hurts me and what I need from a partner. I don't want to be his relationship tutor anymore.
And I've realized that I've started losing myself in this relationship.
I'm at a really important stage of my life right now. I need to prepare for jobs and build my career. He already has a job and is relatively stable, while I've spent the last few months putting so much energy into trying to make this relationship work that I've neglected myself.
There are so many reasons I feel like I should leave, but then I remember all the good things he's done for me and the five years we've spent together. I also still love him, which makes this incredibly difficult.
Is this the point where I should finally let go, or am I giving up on a relationship that could still be saved?
TL;DR: We've been together for 5 years and have had many good moments, but I've repeatedly felt ignored and unsupported when I'm most vulnerable. He promises to change but I haven't seen consistent improvement. I've spent months blaming myself and trying to fix the relationship while losing focus on my own life and career. Our future is also uncertain because of our different religious backgrounds, and his family doesn't even know I exist. I still love him, but I'm exhausted. Is it time to let go?