Women Who Feel Trapped In Their Marriage Often Share These 10 Daily Habits
When a woman feels trapped in her marriage, she's likely to develop certain daily habits as coping mechanisms.
Josep Suria / Shutterstock If there is anything I’ve learned as a relationship writer, it’s that people tend to show their displeasure in their relationships through a variety of gestures. Being stuck in a bad relationship has a way of showing itself through your mannerisms, even if you try to hide it.
Men and women tend to show their displeasure differently. If you’re a woman in a bad relationship, chances are high that you might have one of these habits below.
Women who feel trapped in their marriage often share these 10 daily habits
1. Avoiding their spouse
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Let’s start off with the most obvious habit of unhappy wives: avoiding their spouses. The more trapped you feel in a marriage, the more likely it is that you feel like you need to stay away from the man who trapped you.
Women who feel resentful, fearful, or otherwise crowded by their partners tend to try to put both physical and emotional distance between the two of them. It’s their way of getting breathing space in a subtle way.
2. Venting about their spouse
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Women are more likely to vent to friends and family about their partners. The more trapped and resentful a wife feels, the more likely it is that they will eventually vent to their friends.
If you overheard your wife venting about you to her friends, it’s likely that she is unhappy in the relationship. She may also feel trapped, angry, or resentful.
3. Mentioning regrets about having kids
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Do you know a woman who’s married with kids who constantly tells other women to avoid getting married? Maybe she’s said something along the lines of, “Don’t have kids. I don’t want my kids gone, but things might be better for everyone if they hadn't been born.”
Regretful moms are often the ones who feel baby-trapped by spouses, especially if they, themselves, were on the fence about kids.
4. Nitpicking
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Most of us have noticed the trope of the “Shrew Wife” who seems to nitpick and henpeck her husband to high heaven. This trope exists for a reason. Women who feel cornered, ignored, or otherwise stuck tend to be the ones who try to pick at their husbands.
In a weird way, it’s their way of pushing men away or trying to get their spouses to listen to them. Squabbles over the little things are a major warning sign.
5. Fantasizing about others
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Romance novels are a great way to escape from reality for many women, but let’s be honest. A lot of those novels are popular with women because they’re yearning for something that they’re not getting at home.
Studies show that romance novels can strengthen relationships if people actually learn the lessons from them. However, if your wife is relying on those novels as a crutch during a time when you can’t even get her to speak to you, she likely is using them as a way to escape.
6. Neglecting herself
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When you first met her, she was dressed to the nines and had a pearly white smile. She was also fit and trim. Nowadays, she doesn’t seem happy. She overeats. She barely bathes or keeps her nails trimmed.
Sound familiar? Self-neglect tends to be a powerful indicator of both depression and feeling trapped in a situation. If you notice this trend in her behavior, it may be time to put your focus on her so that she can actually pour into her own cup.
7. Increasing her solo future plans
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Women who feel trapped will often do their best to get out of the “trapped” feeling they’re in. In other words, they start working toward getting out of their marriage. Women who are fed up with feeling trapped often begin working on their escape plans.
If you notice her saying things like, “When I…” instead of “When we…” when describing the future, it’s a clear sign that she doesn’t want a future with you.
8. Appearing unfazed by her husband's bad habits
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Did your wife recently stop complaining? Don’t be so quick to assume that it’s a good sign. More often than not, this is a sign of Walkaway Wife Syndrome. This is a syndrome that involves women who are ignored and neglected, often to the point where they feel trapped in their marriages.
After repeatedly trying to fix things, the wife stops trying. She accepts the relationship is not going to get better and starts getting her ducks in a row so she can leave. If she’s unusually quiet about things that once upset her, it’s likely she’s done with trying.
9. Drinking
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Most people who feel trapped in a relationship (or in their lives) will turn to some form of escapism to make things tolerable. Some women who feel unhappy or trapped in their lives tend to drink their problems away.
Is it healthy? Not at all. Unfortunately, it’s a coping mechanism that has become increasingly common among upset women. It’s even become a common issue brought up via advice columns.
10. Glorifying life 'before the ring'
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The easiest way to see if a woman feels like she’s trapped in an unhappy marriage is to see how she talks about life before she met her spouse. It’s normal to feel a little nostalgic, but if she constantly waxes poetic about how life was like “before him,” it’s likely she feels trapped.
After all, she wouldn’t be romanticizing life before a relationship unless she really, really doesn’t want to be in that relationship anymore.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.
