I'm Catholic, was married to one of those. I stayed and stayed, stayed and talked, empathised, stayed some more. It was a living hell, plus I had a daughter.
You're a living breathing individual that God/Creator, thought enough of to put here and I doubt highly it was to learn how to stuff yourself way down inside and be LESS than what you are.
After awhile, though, you can't see any type of a life without it, you're that far gone until something happens that shows you there is EVERYTHING out there, you haven't experienced, by being with a person that pretty much makes you their sole audience while putting up with their defficiency.
If it bothers your love (spouse) then YOU should care enough to address your (your) behavior, whatever it is. No one puts a gun to your head and makes you act a certain way. You do it because there is something about it that makes you feel some type of pleasure at your mates, CHILDREN (if you have them), expense.
If it's chemical, as Lori's points out, that's a valid reason to stay and work on it. Say, someone is trying to quit smoking or drinking or has medications that have side effects.
In my situation I left for 2 reasons. I didn't want to set an example for my children as to what they should feel comfortable with in the future, establishing their own family. The reasoning about being raised in a "passionate" family, should show exactly why NOT to continue doing it to your own family if you love them.
The second reason I left was when things got really tough, not just finances or keeping up with laundry or what I bought and made for dinner, the only thing that ended up mattering the most was the anger. Not that there weren't pleasant times, but their emotions came first. No one elses. As long as everything was decent around the house, they were o.k.
But, considering everything, the world we live in, the planets, sun, moon and stars, I wondered what would happen if they all stopped doing what they were meant to because somebody out there said so or didn't have the decency to monitor their temper and made the world revolve around them.
When you spend your energy stuffing yourself inside, walking on egg shells, you're pretty much doing the same thing. Yes trade offs, but are they ones worth it all the end.
