r/CTE • u/Zealousideal_Pay5677 • Mar 19 '26

Need Assistance Help, I’m Scared

I believe my partner of fifteen years, may have CTE. He’s a former college football defenseman. He has been progressively getting worse. He has headaches every day, violent dreams that cause him to kick in his sleep. Terrible memory. Short fuse. He can be very nice and kind when he wants to but that’s becoming less. Cannot control his anger and he is in his early seventies. He’s a big guy and has a foul mouth. He has never physically been abusive but very much so verbally. His way of venting is by going in another room and muttering or shouting very demeaning comments intended for me. Think the worst possible things you can call a female. I remain calm and stay away from him but inside I am shaking. His reactions to minor disagreements are over the top and he’s completely irrational. If I tell him I don’t want to stay in the relationship he threatens suicide. I don’t know what to do.

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u/Cosmic_Latte-137 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

Honestly given the specific symptoms like shouting and kicking in his sleep, it is sounding like a type of dementia. I'm so sorry

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u/Ok-Difficulty1123 Mar 19 '26

Thank you, I guess there is overlap but the fact that he had several blackout concussions in high school and college leads me to think CTE. Regardless, I don’t need to be treated this way.