Help, my husband is an addict!

I had always feared this to be the truth; I tried to tell myself I was over-reacting, that this was normal behaviour and nothing to be worried about.

But now the proof is overwhelming, I can deny it no longer. I have tried to stop him many times, to stop him from his own destruction but it’s useless. Many nights I wake up and find my husband is not in bed. I follow the lights to the living room, and there he is, caught red-handed!  His eyes are bloodshot; he is tense, and irritated.

Carefully, I go over, and tell him to stop. He nods, agrees and promises to go to sleep, but I know it’s useless. An hour later my eyes flutter open again and, as expected, my dear husband is nowhere to be seen. Again, I go to the living room and angrily I shut off the TV. Reluctantly, he comes back to bed.

This addiction really gets on my nerves, it makes my, generally sweet, husband aggravated and annoyed. He does not even want to go outside. On our precious Sundays, the one day we are both free, instead of enjoying the day running small errands together or getting groceries, we are stuck at home. He justifies his addiction, saying that there is just so much going in Pakistan that,

“What else can I do? How else can I cope?”

And then, as expected, comes the same stale argument I have heard a thousand times before,

“Everyone in Pakistan does it. The situation is so bad that there is no other choice.”

I plead with him, begging him to stop. I tell him,

 “This is going to mess you up; it’s like asking for trouble!”

This is going to lead to other addictions, I just know it. Soon the addiction will spiral out of control, and he will be addicted to anti-depressants, and who knows what else, for high blood pressure.

It’s no good. I can beg, plead and try to annoy him as much as I can, but it will do no good.

Resigned I join him, knowing my yelling will do no good.

My dear husband is addicted to the news.