I won't go into too much past history (before our marriage) here or else I'll be writing all day.
My wife and I have been married for a year and a half and dated for three years before that (previous to that, we were best friends for 6 years). She has a three year old daughter (not mine) - we began dating when I returned from college, then she found out she was a couple of months pregnant. I was there as the 'father' since pregnancy, birth and everything after (I was even in the delivery room and cut the cord).
Two weeks after we married, her parents begin a violent divorce which is only now starting to come to an end. Ever since that time, things started going bad. At the time, I was running my own internet business (grossing about $12k/month). My wife seemed to slip into a depression when her parents' problems came into the light. She was often becoming hysterical most days, requiring my constant attention - For most of the first year of our marriage, I was our sole source of income, took care of my wife and our/her child and took care of the house. After the first year, my internet business was crumbling because of lack of attention. At this point I have no choice but to get a job, but even the income from that was not enough to pay our basic bills. To make a very long story short, we slipped into debt and nearly got evicted before my wife was willing to work. When she got a job, she would call out on nearly 25% of her shifts and ended up quitting or getting fired within a month (for four consecutive jobs).
About two months ago, we both get a job working at the same place. My wife is fairly happy working there but has still been depressed. About a week ago, I convince her that she might be depressed and got her to see a doctor. The doctor confirms that she is severely depressed and begins her on an anti-depressant, Effexor. She is on her sixth daily pill today and has told me she wants to separate... She still seems to show the signs of depression, but the medicine is definitely starting to affect her (her sleeping is a lot more regular, she's become more self confident and her energy level is rising.. i feel like she's reverting back to her old self before her parents split).
There is more to it than this, if you can believe it...
We obviously have not had an easy relationship... I seem to have grown up a little too fast and was trying my best to keep our family on track, but my wife sees it as me 'being her father'. It started as this and we seem to argue a lot more than before.. seems like more and more as the days go by.
I'll get to the point now...
My wife tells me it's time for her to go her own way so she can provide a good life for her and her child. Her recent frustration at our arguments is at that point of no return and she just does not want to try to give anything a shot (counciling, waiting for the medicine to take full effect.. which the doctor said can take 3-5 weeks, etc...).
I know that I have been providing a good life for her and her/our child. I am also a big enough man to admit that I have made some mistakes in the whole process too (and I openly admit these things to her and express my desire to not repeat my past mistakes).
I am also willing to put aside my feelings that most of my 'mistakes' were a result of the way she was acting or making me feel.. BTW.. my 'mistakes' aren't anything one might consider serious and grounds for divorcing someone. She mainly refers to disagreements and arguments where I get upset and sometimes yell as my 'mistakes'. However, I have felt in all situations where I have spoken too loudly to her that she sent my mind into complete confusion, pushing me to yell.. yes, this might sound silly to those who don't know what I'm talking about, but I think any man has experienced some 'irrational thinking' from a female.. the kind of thinking that defies all logic and reason (for example.. she might be getting dressed one day and she'll ask how she looks when she is done.. every now and again, she'll take my response completely opposite of what I say.. for example, I say 'you look great, honey'.. and her response is something like 'do i look that terrible? if i really looked 'great' then you would tell me i look beautiful!' - I am not an insensitive man, btw.. I do know about how women perceive things.. about their self-image having a lot to do with their moods, etc.. But I am terrible at selecting what seem to be the 'right' words... there seems to be tons of words that will set her off like fireworks, like 'great' and 'fine' and 'ok').
Hopefully somebody out there understands what I am trying to say.. I know my thoughts are little off-beat right now.
I guess I'm looking for answers to these questions:
Have I been a terrible person somewhere along the way, enough so to not merit a second chance?
Can this new anti-depressant she is on be causing some of this? (In one of two ways I guess.. 1-Lifting the depression is causing more self-confidence and the desire to tackle the world on her own ... or 2-Because it's only a week into the medication, maybe the entire haze of depression isn't gone but the medication has lift her spirits enough to make her think she's nearly better ... leading to her believing it may be me she needs to get rid of)
I've tried to convince her to finish her first month of medication and then if she still wants to leave me, I'll respect her choice. I just feel like this may be happening as a result of the medication - I don't know if that is true or not, but I don't want to call it quits and keep wondering the rest of my life (BTW.. I have a lot of life left to go too.. I'm 22 and my wife is 23) .
Many thanks to anyone that might be able to shed some light on my situation.
Ryan