I´ve heard Dr Phil call them enablers.

^ What Lena said.
These people enable addicts of all sorts to avoid responsibility for their actions by going along behind the addicts (metaphorically, anyway) and cleaning up the messes they make.

The wife might lead an extremely sedentary life herself and feel threatened by her husband's mental and physical changes, she might feel that she'd be forced to change herself as well. He's been saying in interviews that he feels more confident and more in control now, this could really freak out a spouse who was used to calling the shots.