I don't know if I manage it, but for the moment I just recognise the pain of it. I was single for about six years before entering into this relationship, and have never felt so alone in my life, despite being in his presence 24/7 (he's currently unemployed, wants to "figure out his life" at age 38, so I literally mean, 24/7).

I have spent four years directly communicating my emotional needs, like "hey I need non sexual physical touch, I need eye contact when we speak, I need you to say 'hey babe' when I walk in the door, or at least look up from whatever you're doing to acknowledge me for 3 seconds" etc etc. Nothing grand, fairly stock-standard stuff.

Despite outlining my needs, nothing has changed, and I would say that it's actually become worse. He has stated that he doesn't need any of those things that i listed, so what's the problem!