I'm really scared of my girlfriend

I'm a male in my late thirties and I live with my partner. I'm scared of her.

She never does anything physical, but she is incredibly quick to anger and she constantly criticises me and makes me feel awful about myself. She will aggressively argue a point until she is yelling and me and calling me names, no matter how insignificant the initial issue is.

Because of this I feel very trapped in what I can do. If I spend time working on hobbies I'm 'ignoring' her. If she mentions this I must immediately drop what I am doing or risk a huge fight. Same goes with seeing friends, or even cleaning or eating. If I'm doing it the wrong way or doing something she doesn't like (no matter how small) then there's potential for a huge argument in which she makes me feel like the worst person in the planet.

On the times I have stuck to my guns and stood up for myself it's just made things worse. The argument will snowball and she's even thrown things at me and stormed off into the night. Again, none of these arguments are about anything important - she just wants things to be done her way and her way only.

So, now days I don't stick up for myself - it's too much effort and energy. I just apologise and do what she says. I feel like shit because of that. I feel so low and worthless. Theres been times I've been reduced to sobbing in the corner because I just want the arguments and attacks to stop.

It's scary because I don't know what will set her off. Yesterday she said she was going grocery shopping, but returned a few minutes later. She was furious that the shops were too busy and that I "had made" her go (I didn't say anything like that).

It's just so scary not knowing what mood she will be in when shes at the door. I and feel ashamed I have let myself get into a state where almost all my actions and activities are dictated by her mood - everything I do feels like it must be filtered through a "how we she react?" filter.

I've tried talking to her about my feelings many times, but again it just creates a massive argument and I feel completely overwhelmed and outgunned.

It sounds stupid but I'm so freaking scared of her - or rather of how she makes me feel if she wants to.

I don't know - just wanted to get this out.