“I’m Done”: Husband's "Hilarious Prank" Leaves Him Single With A Pile Of Dishes

To gain more insight on this topic, we reached out to therapist and creator of Save The Marriage, Dr. Lee Baucom. The expert shared with Bored Panda that it can be appropriate for couples to play pranks on each other, but it's important that they both actually like pranks and enjoy that type of humor. "Many people do not like that," Dr. Baucom noted. "I have had experiences with couples where one was playing pranks — for their own amusement — that was damaging and hurtful for the other’s self-esteem."

"This happens when a prank humiliates or shames the person. In this situation, that is the case," he shared. "The husband was not pulling a prank, as much as trying to shame his wife. Whenever someone shames someone else, it assumes some level of superiority. If I can shame you, then I have power. Which seems to be the recurring problem in this relationship. I suspect the husband feels insecure and inferior to his wife, and is pulling the prank to prove power."

When it comes to making requests for a spouse to put more effort into the relationship, Dr. Baucom says this usually starts better as a conversation about how both are feeling about the current state and if they desire any changes. "An honest discussion from that perspective is usually about how each can improve the relationship, and how both can work together to build the relationship they both want," the therapist explained.

Dr. Baucom also provided some insight into why the husband may have gone the route of pulling this prank. "While I don’t have any way of knowing his thoughts, I am going to guess that the wife’s request triggered his insecurities on his capacity as a husband, and perhaps as a man," the expert shared. "Which is why I think he resorted to a 'prank' that was really his way of shaming. He was trying to indirectly and unfairly make a point, in a way that was demeaning and dismissive, all at the same time. He demeaned his wife’s contributions in the household, while at the same time, dismissing her request for more connection and attention."

"Every relationship lives and dies by the connection the couple builds," Dr. Baucom added. "Being responsive to requests for connection is very telling to the health of a relationship. Deny a spouse’s request for connection, and you deny growth in the relationship. But more than that, turning a request for connection against the spouse, and you diminish the trust in the relationship and the trust in you to give what is requested. To me, this was not a prank. It was a shaming action from the own feelings of inferiority in the husband."