Unsupportive Husband During Illness

During a time of illness, a husband can sometimes feel unsupportive, even if he doesn’t mean to be. He might not be bringing you a cup of tea in bed or making sure you take your meds, but there are other ways he can support you during your time of need. Understanding his love language can help you figure out if he’s just reacted to stress differently, or if he really is being unsupportive.URL: https://www.groenerekenkamer.com

Why does my husband treat me bad when I’m sick?

When a woman is sick, her partner often feels overwhelmed by their responsibility to care for her. Some men may even become more critical of their spouse as they begin to see them as a burden or less of an ideal companion. Hurd’s partner began accusing her of cheating on him; berated her for refusing to make him dinner or run errands; and eventually stopped paying her health insurance. While these are extreme examples, men are six times more likely to leave their marriages when a woman becomes seriously ill than women are to leave theirs.

In one study, couples reported on their perceptions of their partners’ unsupportive behavior during cancer treatment. Perceptions of partner unsupportive behavior had detrimental associations with both cognitive and social processing, intrusive thoughts, and well-being. However, the mediators of holding back and mental disengagement accounted for only a quarter to a half of the overall association. This suggests that both the perception of unsupportive behavior and the individual’s own unsupportive responses to it have significant, direct associations with a person’s well-being during cancer.