Is Male Irritability and Anger Undermining Your Marriage? Here Are the 4 Warning Signs
Many women suffer indirectly from IMS as they see the man they love becoming more and more unhappy, angry, and withdrawn.
I’ve been a marriage and family counselor for more than fifty years and have helped more than 40,000 couples. One of the most common, yet least understood, problems that couples face is Male Irritability and Anger (MIA). I first learned about the problem, though it didn’t have a name then, when my own marriage was in trouble. My wife had been trying to get me to see a counselor for many months, but I was reluctant to ask for help, even though I’d been a counselor myself for many years.
I finally agreed to see a counselor when she tearfully told me something had to change. She told me,
“I love you very much, but your anger is destroying the feelings I have for you. If we don’t get help soon, I’m afraid we’re not going to make it.”
That got my attention, big time. But it also terrified me. If we start digging into our lives, what are we going to find? When she sees the real me — angry, scared, confused, unmanly — will she decide to leave me? How could I continue as a marriage and…
