Hi all, obviously these are strange times that we live in. I hope this post is okay for this thread.
My husband has always been a news junkie, but now that we’ve been in quarantine together for months (neither currently working due to this situation), I feel like his news obsession has intensified. There are only so many things to do as distractions (gardening, baking, neighborhood walks, books, etc.) before he goes back on his phone to read the news for hours at a time.
My husband tries to talk to me about politics, current events, etc. and it inevitably leads to us fighting. (Our differing views don’t help, either.) He has gotten increasingly paranoid about things and it makes me very anxious. I tell him I don’t feel comfortable getting into any of these topics because they are so stressful, but he says he wants to talk to me about these things. He doesn’t seem to understand how damaging this is becoming for our relationship, especially while we’re in quarantine together.
I’ve asked him to get off his phone since I don’t think reading the news so much is healthy, but I’m not getting through to him. He doesn’t see anything wrong with his habits and feels a need to constantly stay informed.
It would be nice if we could do couples therapy (albeit virtually), but money is a lot tighter these days. He is on anti-anxiety meds and checks in with his therapist periodically, but I wonder how much that’s helping.
We generally have a good relationship, but these days I feel like there are a lot of “triggers” that can send our conversations in the wrong direction, and I’m turning into a ball of nerves. I get that you can’t force people to change, but I’m becoming very frustrated and really sad.
Any thoughts/advice, please? Thank you.
My husband has always been a news junkie, but now that we’ve been in quarantine together for months (neither currently working due to this situation), I feel like his news obsession has intensified. There are only so many things to do as distractions (gardening, baking, neighborhood walks, books, etc.) before he goes back on his phone to read the news for hours at a time.
My husband tries to talk to me about politics, current events, etc. and it inevitably leads to us fighting. (Our differing views don’t help, either.) He has gotten increasingly paranoid about things and it makes me very anxious. I tell him I don’t feel comfortable getting into any of these topics because they are so stressful, but he says he wants to talk to me about these things. He doesn’t seem to understand how damaging this is becoming for our relationship, especially while we’re in quarantine together.
I’ve asked him to get off his phone since I don’t think reading the news so much is healthy, but I’m not getting through to him. He doesn’t see anything wrong with his habits and feels a need to constantly stay informed.
It would be nice if we could do couples therapy (albeit virtually), but money is a lot tighter these days. He is on anti-anxiety meds and checks in with his therapist periodically, but I wonder how much that’s helping.
We generally have a good relationship, but these days I feel like there are a lot of “triggers” that can send our conversations in the wrong direction, and I’m turning into a ball of nerves. I get that you can’t force people to change, but I’m becoming very frustrated and really sad.
Any thoughts/advice, please? Thank you.