Medical researchers have demonstrated that repressed or controlled feelings actually cause physical changes in a person’s body, changes in the antibody system (which makes that person less able to resist infections), changes in stomach secretions (causing ulcers or chronic indigestion), and even changes in the blood vessels (causing heart disease).

When the American Dream is taken to its outer limits, there is often a kind of existential breakdown among men who have followed the good-husband fantasy to the letter and have gotten to the top of

part.” The only problem with this noble viewpoint is that it is not realistic. It is almost impossible to be responsible for another person’s feelings and behavior. Everyone has normal ups and downs, but when his wife is on a down cycle the white-knight character is engaged in the good husband and sets out to rescue her. She may not have ever reque

Her resentment quickly surfaces in the marriage since she wants to be treated as a capable adult by her husband. The man who doesn’t recognize this, and who persists in his good-husband, head-of-the-household role, is well on his way to the divorce court.

When the good husband does not share his work experiences with his wife, he cheats both his wife and himself. She is unable to get a picture of what he does at his job, and so there is a whole part of him that she never gets to know. He denies himself an opportunity to get his job-related problems “off his chest,” and possibly, to find answers to t

It isn’t a question of right or wrong, but what works in keeping the marriage vital and alive. – Partners need to be flexible, as opposed to rigid, in their attitudes and positions regarding their relationship.

Good husbands can find a variety of excuses for not talking to their wives about their jobs. I often hear husbands say they don’t want their wives to worry. On the surface, this seems like a thoughtful gesture, but when it is further explored, most couples discover that the good husband is really following that part of his marriage fantasy which te

But all too often the dream turns sour. Though the husband earns more money and purchases the things that he and his wife always dreamed of enjoying, they now have become strangers to each other, and no matter how wonderful the things they own, their wealth cannot compensate them for the loneliness they feel.

A basic problem with the good husband’s need to win and be right is that he becomes a terrible listener, unable to really understand his wife’s position and emotions. He cuts her off or puts her down, often not even aware of his effect on her. As a result, she may stop coming to him for any meaningful conversation. She feels alienated from him. His