Would you be in a sexless relationship? What circumstance would you find acceptable for this?

I was with a man for over a decade, he was debilitatingly injured in year 7. He ended up needing five surgical procedures while we were still together, and at probably more since. He, as far as I know, had never been able to walk for more than a few minutes without extreme pain despite a spinal implant meant to interfere with the pain signal from his affected leg.

He also became extremely addicted to higher doses than prescribed of his opiate medications, had no interest in persuing even sedentary jobs he would have been qualified for, probably due to depression, and abused alcohol on top of everything else as a coping mechanism. When he tried to tell me his unemployment was my fault because I wasn't doing enough to help him find a job I gave him an ultimatum: go to rehab for alcohol and consider a program to help with opiate addiction even if you aren't able to stop using them completely. He refused. I left.

I've never been happier or more successful. The last 4 years were torture, and I only wish I'd left sooner, before I truly began to resent him. Things were honestly mostly great before his injury. Would we still be together without that course of events? Most likely. Do I feel bad for leaving him while he was in crisis? Not for a second.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent