Nothing destroys a relationship fast like infidelity. The effects of infidelity in marriage are always enormous and it’s not easily forgotten.
Infidelity impairs the foundations of a relationship in many ways, it causes loneliness, feeling of rejection, heartbreaks, feeling of betrayal as well as confusion to everyone involved.
One of the main effects of infidelity in marriage is that some relationships end after it, in some cases couples can repair their relationship with the help of a marriage therapist and the relationship may even become stronger afterward.
What Does infidelity Mean In Marriage? And What are the physical effects of being cheated on
Affair means different things to different people. To some watching pornographic materials, emotional affairs are all considered infidelity, to others, when you lustfully or do the act, then you have committed the act.
Question is, what does cheating, affair, or infidelity mean to you, and have you ever fallen victim to me?
You may want to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you have never indulged in infidelity, because you’ve never slept with anybody that’s not your spouse, but when you develop emotional feelings and attachment to someone else than your spouse, it may be more dangerous than having an affair.
Faithfulness means that you have no other person in your life than your spouse, that is when you can claim to be faithful emotionally, mentally as well as physically.
Never allow yourself to get into any romantic relationship with any person except your spouse. Well, you won if you know the causes and effects of extramarital affairs.
As a married man/woman, you are not allowed to have any attachment emotionally or even fall in love with another person other than your spouse. When you do, then you are guilty of infidelity.
Infidelity is capable of destroying lives, not just your spouse’s life, but your children’s life as well. It can destroy any relationship in the flash of an eye.
People can go to any length to revenge the act of infidelity without thinking of the implications.
There is no amount of short term or “fleeting” pleasure that can compensate all the havocs that comes with infidelity.
Even the happiest marriage can crumble in one minute because of unfaithfulness.
Different Types Of Infidelity In Marriage.
Emotional Infidelity:
What is emotional intimacy?
According to wikipedia.org “The term often describes a bond between two people that mimics the closeness and emotional intimacy of a romantic relationship while not being physically consummated.”
That means emotional intimacy doesn’t need your body contact to happen. It is when you find somebody else attractive than your spouse to share sexual chemistry with him or her.
It usually starts as friendship; you never had intentions to come this far as a friend, somewhere along the line, things got out of hand and now both of you are cheating on your spouses.
This type of relationship can wreak havoc in a relationship and your marriage. The reason is that you only have a few “emotional energy” that should be focused on your spouse and not on someone else. Sharing this emotional energy that belongs to your partner with someone else is where the problem is.
Checklist Of The Signs Of Emotional Infidelity.
- time spends more time together.
- You share all your emotions with someone else.
- Inceasnt a love for social media.
- Spending more time outside than home
- Too much phone shadiness.
- Sudden secretiveness.
- Comparing your spouse with someone else.
- Frequently mentioning somebody’s name.
Physical Infidelity:
This is when you have sexual intercourse with someone that is not your partner. There are so many reasons why people will want to cheat on their spouses. The most common reasons are
- Emotional distance.
- Physical distance.
- Lack of sex in marriage.
- One partner has already cheated.
- Lack of sexual satisfaction.
- Sex Addiction.
There are many reasons why people cheat on their spouses. But understand that cheating will hurt your relationship. Below are a few ways infidelity can hurt your marriage.
Holistic Effects Of Infidelity In Marriage/psychological effects of cheating in a relationship
There will be a loss of trust:
After cheating, it is always hard to trust your partner again. Not only that your spouse will distrust you sexually and emotionally, but they will also doubt every one of your actions, whether are correct or not.
During the wake of adultery, so many other lies will unfold, all these lies make trust difficult. From that moment, it becomes very hard to believe whatever your cheated partner does, even in his finance, confidence will also plumate.
Your spouse’s self-esteem will also be destroyed because of cheating. They will feel as though they are not complete. He/she may even question their intelligence, attraction as well as their personality.
All those can cause him or her to fall victim to deep depression, which may take a long to heal. You will not want this to happen in your marriage, would you?
It Brings Emotional Destruction:
Like I said in the beginning, infidelity doesn’t just happen. It begins from an ordinary relationship before it gravitates to full-blown infidelity. In the process of the illicit relationship between the two cheaters, some emotional destruction happens.
Finally when the did has been done and found out, it brings great devastating effects on you or your spouse emotionally. Infidelity can create a level of anxiety and stress and can also cause a big mode of depression.
The worst of it all is that the cheating spouse, in the process of trying to exonerate himself from his evil action will blame his /her cheating actions on the innocent spouse. This blame game is what causes even more emotional destruction and turmoil.
It is best not to indulge in cheating than to destroy your relationship and your marriage.
It Kills A Marriage:-
Infidelity in marriage has been proven to be one of the reasons marriages fail. Most couples will find it hard to contain the effects of infidelity in their marriage especially if they trust themselves so much.
The partner cheated on feels neglected and betrayed. Some will not want to set their eyes on their cheating partner from that moment. They feel depressed and in some cases, they will seek divorce.
Children Are Also Affected.
Extramarital affairs do not only destroy a marriage, but it also destroys the relationship around the family, such as friends, relatives, and even the children. Cheating is not only an embarrassment to the cheater but the whole family. They feel the embarrassment from the community gossip that surrounds the infidelity.
The effects of infidelity on a spouse can last for a long time and can forever change the partner’s perspective. If the partner is not healed of the effects of the cheating, it may also affect his or her new relationship. To avoid all these, you have to consider not indulging in the extramarital affair.
How To Deal With Infidelity In Marriage.
- Wait To Decide:– So sorry if your partner cheated on you, you have every right to take action immediately, you can even quit the marriage at once. However, before you decide to leave the marriage, why not wait a moment to find out the reason. Although there is no reason good enough to make you or your partner cheat. If you try, you can heal your marriage. May I tell you that some couples have become the best after dealing with infidelity in their marriage? Therefore wait to decide.
- Be Accountable For Your Actions:- This is coming to you as the culprit. You have to be accountable for your actions. You have to quit cheating if you don’t want to bring problems to your relationship. Build a strong boundary between you and your female or male friends and co-workers. Leave the job if possible.
- Forgive And Forget: – It may not be easy to forgive your cheating partner, after all, he/she betrayed you, disappointed, and killed your emotions. But if you can, just try to forgive and ask that such never repeat itself. If the cheating partner asks forgiveness, then forgive.
- See A Marriage Counselor:- Your next step to dealing with infidelity in marriage may be to see a marriage counselor. Marriage counselors are trained to help couples in areas like communication, conflict resolutions, etc. Therefore if you find out that you can’t handle it on your own, then look for a counselor to help. Check out my post on how to locate a marriage counselor near you.
In Conclusion.
Never indulge in infidelity, if you want to maintain a happy marriage. You will cause great pain to your spouse and all your family members, and that may not be easy to overcome.
Cheating is a betray, and nobody likes to be betrayed even you. If you won’t want to be cheated on, don’t cheat, and if you have cheated, then look for ways to make amend. If you are cheated upon, forgive and see if there will be a way to use it as a tool to bring you closer.
Dealing with infidelity in marriage and the long-term psychological effects of infidelity in your marriage may not be that easy, but it will be better to take the step than do nothing. You will be amazed at the results you will get shortly.
I hope you found this post interesting. If you have a better way of dealing with infidelity in marriage, share it with us; you may be helping someone else.
See you at the top.
your house counselor,
Murphyaik.