What to Do with an Angry Husband

Updated on April 27, 2015
❤.M. asks from Santa Monica, CA
9 answers

He's quick to anger.
Has a lot on his plate for the moment but does not excuse the things he says.
Anyone in the same situation, have any ideas on how to deal?

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone! Especially grateful to those of you that gave me the tools to talk to him. He's under high stress right now ready
to change jobs. Still no excuse for taking things out on me or the youngest. verbally. He's already been to counseling before. But now I have the verbage to start a convo regarding this matter.

Featured Answers

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Ask him how yelling at you changes anything for the better.
He needs anger management so he can find acceptable constructive ways to channel his anger rather than tearing down the people around him.

1 mom found this helpful

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C.C.

answers from San Francisco on

I guess it depends upon whether he's always been like this (so it's just his personality), or if this is a recent development. If the latter, maybe he is depressed or going through some kind of a medical issue. For instance, a few years ago, my husband (although he is pretty excitable on a normal day) became really angry. The kids were afraid of him, I didn't want to talk to him (ever), and we all were walking on eggshells around him. Finally I encouraged him to go to the doctor for a checkup. Turns out that he is diabetic! He was having these wild blood sugar swings, and that was the cause of his extreme moodiness. Once he got on medication for the diabetes, he calmed down a lot. He is still very excitable, but that is just his personality. If anything unexpected happens in life, he will totally blow up, but then is over it very quickly - he has always been that way.

The key is really, what has changed? If nothing has changed, and he's always just been super cranky, you need to ask yourself if this is something you can/want to put up with for the next 20, 30, 50 years?

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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

guessing he is anxious or depressed.. or both.. men cant go around crying and looking anxious.. so they act angry...

counseling..

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E.B.

answers from Beaumont on

I don't think there is enough information to give good advice. Everyone has periods of high stress so maybe grace is the answer. I think it depends if he's like this a lot or not. If it's the former, I would try to ease his load and make his surroundings as peaceful as possible and see if it passes.

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J.T.

answers from New York on

Does he see a problem or he thinks it's fine? Talk to him when he's not angry in a non-confrontational way. Be gentle and say how you know he's under a lot of stress but does he realize how damaging what he says is to the kids? If he thinks it's all your issue, this may be his personality and you have to figure out if you want to go on. If he feels badly and his temper just takes over some times, he may benefit from an antidepressant. I haven't been on one in years but I go through bad temper periods and consider going back on bc they help me from blowing up so much. It's amazing the difference. I remember thinking "if I wasn't on Zoloft, I'd have lost my sh*t just now. Wow. What a difference". Doesn't have to be forever he is on something. Could help him reset his emotions and also let him see he doesn't have to be this way.

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H.D.

answers from San Francisco on

My husband has been angry at times when there has been certain times of extreme stress. He doesn't realize how it affects our family unless I talk to him about it. He also keeps acting this way until I put a stop to it.

If this is an ongoing occurrence with your husband and not due to a specific situation, I would suggest going to counseling together to see how he can better manage his stress without putting the family through hell. Living a lifetime with an angry person will make life very intolerable for you and your family. Your kids may take on the traits of his anger thinking that's how people/fathers/men are supposed to behave. They may also resent you later for not removing them from a pressure cooker household where everyone is always walking on eggshells.

Give your husband a chance to correct his behavior, but if it doesn't change, please be prepared to get yourself out of the relationship. You deserve to be H. even if he refuses to be that way.

3 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

I don't have enough info here to answer proficiently.

I have a hubby who angers easily. He is aware if that anger is directed to me or daughter it's dead wrong. Sometimes he does that but only verbally...

We work as a team and it's understandable if one or the other spouse gets angered more easily than the other. There is a line that the anger crosses which is ... Does that anger threaten you or your children? My hubby and I work as a team.

I know my hubby is one hell of a bull when needed but he's able to differentiate that between me and what's going on in our lives/our company.

We work 24/7 together and we each need our down times away from each other to cool down and digest info.

Maybe you both need some quality time apart. It does not mean you don't get along... Each of you need time to yourselves to sort everything out in your head then go back to work as a partnership .

Hope that makes sense coming from someone who works 24/7 with hubby. You have to find a balance to work as a team.

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Not much info here.
I won't tolerate being barked at unless you're wearing a flea collar and walk on all fours.

1 mom found this helpful

C.V.

answers from Columbia on

You can't control him, but you can control you.

First of all, you need to talk when he's not angry. Talk with him and let him know that you love him and are concerned about what happens when he's feeling mad. Let him know that you are a team, but that you feel very hurt and upset when he says cruel things to you when he's angry. If there is a problem, you work together to solve the problem. You don't say hurtful things to your wife.

Talk about a plan so that when he's mad, he can step away and gather his thoughts before saying something hurtful. Or that you can identify it in a neutral way and gently remind him of his plan of action. It might be something as simple as, "Love, why don't I get you a glass of water?" An easy hint that he needs to take a deep breath and not let his anger get the best of him.

Best of luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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