Leave him ...... You don't need him in your life...

You know that is abuse or you wouldn't be asking. It won't get any better until you put a stop to him mistreating you.

If he has not been this way through 18 yrs together and with his age .. early onset dimensia is highly possible. Early onset can begin even younger than 65. Have had Alzheimers in my family and I can tell you some of this is consistent with behaviors I saw that were highly uncharacteristic of my family members.

Get yourself safe and, if you care for him as you seem to, encourage him to seek medical assessment.

OK, what he's doing is absolutely wrong and you should not put up with it. Trying to find the underlying reason for the change has to be a high priority - I would either guess severe stress (from a job, or from coming to retire?) ... or dementia of some sort.

Get away.... now

Pack your bags and get the f*** out of there. Come on, you're smarter than that.🙄

Of course you know.

You should leave him. He should never hit you. You are not over reacting.

LEAVE!!!!!!!

Dontt put up with that behavior ...will only get worse ....u can change ur life .

He is abusing u and it will probably get worse.

He should not hit you regardless of age or mind set... time to move on

Wait. You say he is much older. How old is he now? I ask because this could be the beginning stages of dementia or Alzheimers...very distinct symptoms are the behavior...they can become unusually mean.

No one should ever hit you or yell at you for whatever reason. Get away from him.

He is being abusive. That you have 18 years invested means nothing if he is acting like a jackass. Seek counseling but it will only get worse if you tolerate it.

I think you need to lose this abusive loser as quickly as possible. If you talk yourself into continuing your relationship, then you are talking yourself into allowing someone to ruin your life. After 18 years I am sure it will be difficult, but if you stay you will be permanently affected. You will be emotionally damaged in a way that doesn't really go away, you might become depressed and that might not go away. He also might "escalate", finding he enjoys his power over you so much that he will hurt you in worse and worse ways....physically. If you are looking forward to visits to the ER, to scars, both physical and emotional, and a case of PTSD and chronic depression, then stay with this creep.

Also. Hitting you on the head and kicking you in the legs is absolutely abuse.