Relationships require mutual respect, but sometimes, even the smallest actions can feel like a slap in the face.

After coming out of a depression, one person let out an innocent laugh while playing video games.

But their boyfriend’s harsh reaction left them feeling silenced in the worst possible way.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for the way I responded to my boyfriend shushing me

Ok, so last night, we were online playing video games with his sister and her husband.

Something funny happened, and I laughed — a bit too loudly.

This laughter received a rather odd reaction from their boyfriend.

But he turned around, put his hand on my leg, and shushed me.

They felt extremely hurt by this and confronted their boyfriend soon after.

I immediately saw red and completely shut down for the rest of the night.

When we were done, I told him not to ever do that again and how disrespectful it felt.

He had an excuse ready to go.

His answer was, “I’m sorry, but you scared the cat.”

But they felt like their feeling should have mattered more than the cat’s.

For context, I am coming out of a pretty severe depression, and this was one of the first times I was trying to be engaging and whatnot.

So, I may be being a tad more sensitive about it than I need to be.

Idk… AITA?

Everyone deserves to be heard – especially while finding their voice again.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter thinks this person was right to react this way to their boyfriend.

When you break it down this way, the optics really don’t look good for the boyfriend.

He definitely should have let his partner have one innocent laugh, especially considering their mental state.

If a moment of joy is enough to warrant a shush, maybe the real problem isn’t the volume but the company.

Moments of joy should be celebrated, not silenced.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.