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“Harmless Prank” Leaves 34-Weeks-Pregnant Wife Sobbing Uncontrollably, Husband Shifts The Blame
“Harmless Prank” Leaves 34-Weeks-Pregnant Wife Sobbing Uncontrollably, Husband Shifts The Blame
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“Harmless Prank” Leaves 34-Weeks-Pregnant Wife Sobbing Uncontrollably, Husband Shifts The Blame

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Even in the best of times, pranks tend to not be particularly fun. Unless both parties, the prankster and the victims know and abide by certain boundaries, pranks just seem mean spirited at best. But pulling a prank that literally invokes your loved ones childhood trauma goes beyond that into deeply disturbed territory.

A woman asked the internet for advice after her husband called her “dramatic” for freaking out over a horrible prank. We reached out to the woman in the story via private message and will update the article when she gets back to us.

RELATED:

    Pranking your spouse has a lot of ways it can go wrong

    Image credits: shotprime/Envato (not the actual photo)

    But one woman was called dramatic for freaking out when her husband told her the house was on fire

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    Image credits: juriymaslak/Envato (not the actual photo)

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    Image credits: Far_Specific_3005

    Trauma doesn’t just go away easily

    Image credits: LightFieldStudios/Envato (not the actual photo)

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    The experience this woman went through falls neatly into the category of trauma. Simply put, if you’ve gone through an experience that was particularly stressful, physically or emotionally, you will probably have lasting symptoms. Depression, panic attacks, high blood pressure and all sorts of other issues are common results of situations like this.

    A fire is not only generally traumatic, but it literally destroys a person’s possessions. It’s quite possible that a significant part of this woman’s early life was directly influenced by this fire, and that’s before we take into account the psychological impact. In the text itself, she mentions constantly checking the oven, candles, etc. This immediately points to the fact that this trauma has not been entirely resolved yet.

    Trauma symptoms do tend to dissipate with time, but can “rear up” when something triggers it. Oftentimes, our minds connect entirely benign things with our traumatic experiences, leading to a disproportionate dislike of a “normal thing.” For example, this isn’t the case in this story, but it’s easy to imagine a person who simply can’t stand being around candles after having their home burn down.

    Generally, just the “threat” of a trigger can be enough to provoke anxiety. This is already a pretty major disorder, but it can “flare up” and provoke full-blown panic attacks. If you are going to spend a decent amount of time with a person, it’s best to know if there are some seemingly innocuous things that might cause them real distress. Instead this husband took a vulnerable part of this woman’s life and used to pull a prank. Incidents like this would be enough to cause a breakup in a lot of cases.

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    The husband’s actions were downright cruel

    Image credits: FabrikaPhoto/Envato (not the actual photo)

    The consequences of being exposed to one’s trauma like that are often far reaching. The symptoms are many and generally pretty bad, ranging from insomnia to entire psychiatric disorders. These, naturally, cause a lot of stress to a person which also leads to physical issues. At this point, it’s probably worth reminding that this woman was pregnant at the time of the “prank” and causing her stress is the last thing anyone should be doing.

    Given the wife’s experience and husband’s age (we are setting aside the age gap here) it would seem like he really should have known better. But the truly shocking part is how he reacted when she called him out. The wife had every right to be angry and he had the gall to call her “dramatic.” He claims the prank was harmless, but since he is not the “victim” of it, he has no leg to stand on and make this argument.

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    It’s quite telling that in this relationship, she then went to apologize to him, which is a shocking set of words to type given the circumstances. Even worse, as if that is possible, he then refuses to accept an apology which he does not deserve in the first place. Fortunately, the vast majority of readers not only sided with the woman but started giving her advice on what to do. Hopefully, she can take on board their advice and perhaps get out of this relationship that sounds like it’s downright terrible.

    Most people thought her husband was way out of line

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    Poll Question

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    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    Read less »
    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    What do you think ?
    Tamra
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This was not a prank. At best it was thoughtless and stupid, and at worst it was cruel. You don't play on someone's trauma, and you DON'T pull risky pranks on a heavily pregnant woman in the middle of the night! This guy is a f*****g idiot.

    Vinnie
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He's horrible. He gets more satisfaction from emotional abusing her than emotionally supporting her.

    Load More Replies...
    Saphyre Fyre
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    FIRE IS NOT A PRANK! YOU MARRIED AN ABUSIVE, NARCISSICTIC CHILD.

    Cronecast AtTheRisingMoon
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That man might be a full-blown sociopath because holy holy moly, his idea of a "prank" (what the hell?) is to essentially emotionally torture his pregnant wife. It was emotional abuse that was planned. This one's actually scarier than hell and there's a concerning age and maturity difference on this one too. Just so much yikes.

    Load More Replies...
    Darthest Starfish
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Girl you were 19 when you GOT MARRIED to a 28 year old. Which certainly means you dated prior to that, this is disgusting. You are victim of being groomed and manipulated.

    Nils Skirnir
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I’d say he was a pig, but that’d be unkind to pigs.

    Load More Replies...
    The Starsong Princess
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This was not a joke. Abusers often show their hand when their partner is pregnant or has just given birth. They resent the lack of control and the attention focus on the woman and baby so they act out. The nasty prank wasn’t the only abuse here - her being the one to apologize and then him rejecting the apology is classic abusive DARVO behavior - Deny, attack, reverse victim order. This will get worse when the baby comes.

    Not-a-Clue (she/her)
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Agreed: 30% of domestic abuse starts during pregnancy, and abuse that's already happening typically escalates during pregnancy.

    Load More Replies...
    V
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't think he wants to be a dad or be with his wife because that amount of Stress during pregnancy could kill them both.

    DarkViolet
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I agree. I believe that he was hoping something "accidental" would happen: premature labor or falling down the stairs. It's possible that he has his eye on someone who's about the same age as OP was when they first met. She needs to get out of there PRONTO. He's not just cruel, he's dangerous AF.

    Load More Replies...
    Traveling Lady Railfan
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you stay with him, expect that this type of behavior will continue. Just wait until he tells you that "the baby's not breathing" or "I can't find the baby anywhere"... Hahaha!! Why you so upset? It's just a prank?

    Dirk Daring
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I am not a violent man, but I want to put on my steel toe boots and kick this guy in the doo-dads.

    JB
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We’ll hold him down for you while chanting, “It’s just a prank!”.

    Load More Replies...
    TribbleThinking
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow. Had he just taken out a massive insurance policy on the wife and baby? She should look into that.

    DarkViolet
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A horrible possibility, but an astute observation.

    Load More Replies...
    UpupaEpops
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    SHE *apologised* to HIM??? F**k that. I would honestly have to leave for a good couple of days and reconsider my marriage if my husband ever decided to use such a traumatic event for funsies. At 34 weeks what would have happened if she had a panic attack and fell down the stairs?!

    Load More Comments
    Tamra
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This was not a prank. At best it was thoughtless and stupid, and at worst it was cruel. You don't play on someone's trauma, and you DON'T pull risky pranks on a heavily pregnant woman in the middle of the night! This guy is a f*****g idiot.

    Vinnie
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He's horrible. He gets more satisfaction from emotional abusing her than emotionally supporting her.

    Load More Replies...
    Saphyre Fyre
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    FIRE IS NOT A PRANK! YOU MARRIED AN ABUSIVE, NARCISSICTIC CHILD.

    Cronecast AtTheRisingMoon
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That man might be a full-blown sociopath because holy holy moly, his idea of a "prank" (what the hell?) is to essentially emotionally torture his pregnant wife. It was emotional abuse that was planned. This one's actually scarier than hell and there's a concerning age and maturity difference on this one too. Just so much yikes.

    Load More Replies...
    Darthest Starfish
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Girl you were 19 when you GOT MARRIED to a 28 year old. Which certainly means you dated prior to that, this is disgusting. You are victim of being groomed and manipulated.

    Nils Skirnir
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I’d say he was a pig, but that’d be unkind to pigs.

    Load More Replies...
    The Starsong Princess
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This was not a joke. Abusers often show their hand when their partner is pregnant or has just given birth. They resent the lack of control and the attention focus on the woman and baby so they act out. The nasty prank wasn’t the only abuse here - her being the one to apologize and then him rejecting the apology is classic abusive DARVO behavior - Deny, attack, reverse victim order. This will get worse when the baby comes.

    Not-a-Clue (she/her)
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Agreed: 30% of domestic abuse starts during pregnancy, and abuse that's already happening typically escalates during pregnancy.

    Load More Replies...
    V
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't think he wants to be a dad or be with his wife because that amount of Stress during pregnancy could kill them both.

    DarkViolet
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I agree. I believe that he was hoping something "accidental" would happen: premature labor or falling down the stairs. It's possible that he has his eye on someone who's about the same age as OP was when they first met. She needs to get out of there PRONTO. He's not just cruel, he's dangerous AF.

    Load More Replies...
    Traveling Lady Railfan
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you stay with him, expect that this type of behavior will continue. Just wait until he tells you that "the baby's not breathing" or "I can't find the baby anywhere"... Hahaha!! Why you so upset? It's just a prank?

    Dirk Daring
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I am not a violent man, but I want to put on my steel toe boots and kick this guy in the doo-dads.

    JB
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We’ll hold him down for you while chanting, “It’s just a prank!”.

    Load More Replies...
    TribbleThinking
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow. Had he just taken out a massive insurance policy on the wife and baby? She should look into that.

    DarkViolet
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A horrible possibility, but an astute observation.

    Load More Replies...
    UpupaEpops
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    SHE *apologised* to HIM??? F**k that. I would honestly have to leave for a good couple of days and reconsider my marriage if my husband ever decided to use such a traumatic event for funsies. At 34 weeks what would have happened if she had a panic attack and fell down the stairs?!

    Load More Comments
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