Getting married usually means you have a partner in life. Someone to share the ups and downs of life with, including parenthood, running the household and providing each other with emotional support. However, if your partner has ADHD, the partnership can become lopsided as you find you are taking care of your partner’s responsibilities as well as your own. As the non-ADHD spouse, you may feel you don’t have a partner, but instead have someone to corral, organize and direct like a child.
It is easy to see why non-ADHD spouses begin to feel isolated, distant, overwhelmed, resentful, angry, critical and accusatory while the ADHD spouse can feel nagged at, rejected and stressed. When frustrations and tempers become more difficult to control, the marriage may begin to unravel.