Up until now I have been pretty vague in my writing about why my husband and I went through a nearly two-year period of him treating me badly. It's embarrassing to write about this, and I'm afraid that some of you won't understand where I'm coming from, but here it goes nonetheless.

I've mentioned before that my husband loves video games, much to my chagrin. A couple of years ago he bought the game World of Warcraft upon the recommendation of his brother. This is a computer game that people play together online, and from what I understand it involves running around slaying dragons and stuff like that. I've never played it, so I only know what I've read about it and what I've witnessed over my husband's shoulder.

It began innocently enough with him playing a couple of hours every few days, but soon I noticed that he was making more and more time for the game. Within the span of a week or so he went from occasional player to playing every night. After the kids were in bed there he would be, parked in front of the computer, and there he would stay until around 2 a.m., even on work nights. Back then our kids headed to bed around 6:30, so that means he would spend around seven hours every light playing. He would get up to go to the bathroom, and once in a while he would indulge me in some conversation, but most of the time there he was, playing that stupid game.

I know men need their manly hobbies, but this particular hobby was consuming him. He gained weight, he was often late to work, and any time I tried to approach him about it he got incredibly defensive. He once told me, "Every time I find something I like to do, you become such a kill-joy!" It became obvious to me that this game was becoming an addiction, and not only was it incredibly frustrating but it was embarrassing as well. How do you confide in people that your husband is addicted to a teenage pastime without people giggling?