Woman Praised for Leaving Boyfriend After 'Psychotic Break' Over Laundry

Commenters in a popular internet forum criticized a man after he had a "psychotic break" during an argument with his girlfriend about folding laundry.

An anonymous woman, known only as u/Throwaway-thelaundry, posted about the incident on Reddit's popular "True Off My Chest" forum where it received nearly 13,500 upvotes and 1,400 comments. The viral Reddit post can be found here.

Gary Brown, a Los Angeles-based couples' therapist, told Elite Daily that although it is normal for couples to argue, some disagreements can escalate into toxic territory. One example is when a partner tries to use the other's vulnerabilities in a fight.

"They undermine trust and torpedo the ability to be truly vulnerable because we don't trust that we aren't going to be attacked," Brown said. "It's different than just having an adult disagreement. It's more about power — and when toxic, the abuse of power."

In the post titled "I Left My Boyfriend Over Laundry and I'm Not Sorry, and I Don't Regret It at All" the woman, 28, recalled walking out on her boyfriend, 29, of two years after an argument left her feeling "creeped out."

Moving in together three months prior, the woman knew he was going to propose soon because they were "totally in love" and got along well with each other's family and friends.

But the other day while she was folding clothes, he came into the room saying the way she folded his clothes was "ridiculous and sloppy."

"For a minute, I'm kind of stunned, because we've always talked things out in a reasonable way, and this was very different," the post read. "But, in that moment, I'm thinking, 'Oh god, I'm moving into his place and it's only been a few months, this is a rough adjustment for couples.'"

The woman apologized and said he should fold his clothes the way he likes because she is not a great folder, but she said that's when he "flipped." He began saying she was "too lazy" to learn how to fold and she described his tone as "maniacal."

"The sentence started angry, then mocking, then at the end he was laughing, like me just not learning to fold his clothes in a specific way was ludicrous," the post read. "I'm stunned, kind of scared. He grabs a shirt, and he's just... in another world. He's talking me through this folding routine in a weird voice."

After arguing more, the man got red in the face and started talking about how their future children won't have any "self-respect" if their clothes aren't properly folded.

"I'm terrified at this point because he's done a complete 180 from who I was living with literally 30 minutes before. I was scared he was having some kind of psychotic break," the post read. "...I go use the bathroom, and my stomach is flipping. I can hear him go to the laundry closet and throw the basket on the floor. I had never seen him throw something, ever before this."

She then left the apartment and drove to her parents, saying part of her brain knew something was off and went into "override mode."

When she finally called her boyfriend, he said she "looked scared" and said "I was wondering when you'd get to see neurotic me" while laughing. She said she was scared and he said he hoped she didn't tell anyone since he was "working on it" and it was "personal" and "embarrassing."

She then broke up with him, turned off her cellphone for the night, and moved out of the apartment the next day.

"Woke up the next day. 74 missed calls from bf. Voicemail full. Too many text messages to even read," the post read.

When she went to move out of the apartment, police had to help her inside because he told management she was "kicked out" and not allowed back inside. One of the cops told her he saw cameras hidden in the smoke alarms that she was unaware of.

"Who the hell was I dating all this time?" the post read. "God, I am so creeped out, like this is an out of body experience. I had to let it out because it's so crazy and life really is just a rug. It doesn't feel real and it's like 2 years of my life just poofed out of existence."

Nearly 1,400 users commented on the post, with the majority supporting the woman's decision to leave.

"I was terrified while reading this. This guy is dangerously unhinged," one user commented.

"You didn't leave him over laundry. It wasn't because of a fight about laundry. It was that his whole demeanor and personality changed," another user commented. "Happened to be laundry but could have ended up being any other mundane thing."

"It's absolutely NOT 'just laundry.' TRUST YOUR GUT. Your gut is right. Your worry and intuition is correct," another added.

Newsweek reached out to u/Throwaway-thelaundry for comment.

Another woman was recently praised for leaving her boyfriend after he said men and women could never be equals.

One man was slammed in a Reddit forum after he told his girlfriend to sell her car after finding out it was a gift from an ex-boyfriend.

Another man was criticized online after he called his wife "selfish" for spending too much time with her family and dad battling cancer.