There’s a strange phenomenon that happens for wives in the recovery process that is called Recovery Resentment.
The confusing thing about this resentment is it seems to show up most often when a husband is doing really well in his recovery work. You might think a wife would be happy, thankful and excited about the changes she sees, yet at times she may seem angry about it.
What typically happens is a husband gets discovered or does disclosure, gets plugged into counseling, attends an Every Man’s Battle Intensive Workshop, jumps into a group or develops friendships and becomes accountable, and finds himself hopeful about his future. For some guys, it’s the most free they’ve ever felt, and they experience joy unlike anything in a long time. There are powerful insights about addiction and personal idiosyncrasies and realizations that can sometimes explain decades of lifestyle choices.
Then there’s his wife. His ‘best day‘ is her ‘worst’ as he feels free from the bondage, she gets the backpack of his pain. She has to reconcile her whole life and make sense of her hunches and where she overlooked the clues. She has to find a way to not feel crazy as she looks back on her life. She has to struggle through sticking around, riding the roller-coaster of feeling love towards her husband one minute, hate the next. The disparity between how joyful and hopeful he is and how hopeless and devastated she feels becomes stark. For some wives, this is where resentment starts to creep in. And it’s a real catch-22: she feels resentment that she’s been put in this situation, and also resentment that her husband is changing and things may be getting better. Talk about confusing!
Here are some things heard from wives that indicate the recovery resentment is building:
“He starts to feel better, and I start to feel worse.”
“He gets to attend a retreat, while I am stuck giving up more time of my life to his recovery.”
“He gets to hang out at breakfast with his friends once a week, while I’m stuck getting the kids ready for school.”
“I have to struggle through a day of triggers reminded of pain and feeling anxiety, while he seems to pass the day without thinking anything of it or feeling any remorse.”
“We’re having to spend money cleaning up his mess, when for years I’ve wanted to spend money on _______, and he’s refused to do so.”
One thought that strikes such a chord for so many wives, “Sure, he’s changing, but who is he becoming? And how long do I have to wait to see if I like who he becomes? I don’t want to waste more of my life only to find out I don’t like who he is, or worse that this new man decides he is getting rid of me!”
The key here is to remember that the emotional upheaval and the increasing resentment are all part of the grieving process. Not everyone grieves in the same way, but know if you (or your wife) experience recovery resentment, it is not abnormal. It is grieving, and that means making sense of chaos.
Here’s a few steps you can take if you’re a husband watching your wife experience this:
- Don’t call her crazy or too difficult to please.
- Be patient, continuing to put one foot in front of the other and work your recovery.
- Let your heart break that your actions have brought this on.
- With input from your accountability folks, make sure you are diligently practicing empathy. Your excitement for your recovery and new found freedom cannot overshadow your connection to your wife’s pain.
- See #1
For wives going through it, here are a few ideas for support:
- Be sure you have your own support network — women who can help you process the resentment without having to make decisions based on it.
- Make time for yourself, and give yourself permission to use that time.
- Insist he maintain his commitments to the household on top of recovery work.
- Remember that his enthusiasm for his recovery is a good thing. There is growth. It’s not the same old, same old. You can certainly ask him to temper his enthusiasm, but don’t forget that his excitement for change is a direct offset to his stubbornness to stay the same.
The goal is to have redemptive healing in your marriage. It will take time and the resentment has the potential to obstruct the goal. Be patient and remember your goal of a whole and healed life and marriage. “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:12).
