Sad State of Affairs: Physical Infidelity Versus Emotional Infidelity in a Relationship

Romancipation

S3 Episode 5: Sad State of Affairs: Physical Infidelity Versus Emotional Infidelity in a Relationship

Episode Summary

Infidelity in any form is toxic to romantic relationships. It causes pain, destroys trust and can have many other unintended consequences. Unfortunately, cheating on a partner is more common than many realize. What a person considers unfaithful behavior can vary from person to person. It is important to understand the different types of infidelity and how they violate the boundaries of your relationship.
Whether it is physical contact, an emotional connection or electronic interaction, infidelity erodes the foundation of any healthy relationship. Once the trust is broken between two people, everything is compromised in the relationship. If you or your partner need to find physical satisfaction or emotional support outside of the primary relationship, it should signal that there are serious issues that need to be addressed.
If you find yourself tempted to cheat on your partner, do everyone a favor and end the relationship. The moment you decided to commit to one another, you agreed to the terms and expectations of the relationship. If your primary partner no longer meets your wants or needs, accept it and be honest. Do not create a sad state of affairs. Instead, practice self-preservation and show compassion for the person you once cared about.
At the end of each episode, Marlee and Lis vent about commonly experienced issues in romantic relationships. In this episode, the ladies discuss when your partner makes you feel guilty about improving yourself.

Show Notes

In this episode we’re discussing the difference between physical and emotional cheating in a relationship. There are also other types of cheating, like micro-cheating, which is small acts that may cross a line even if there is no follow-through. Cyber-cheating is another type, which tends to have some blurred lines. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, it’s valid to be concerned about.

Emotional cheating is different in that it comes with a sense of intimacy no matter how near or far the person is in physical proximity. In fact, there does not need to be any physical element at all in this type of cheating. It’s more so characterized by sharing deep thoughts and feelings while creating a connection with the other person.

What starts out as just a friendship can become much more complicated under these circumstances. When a person feels more heard and validated by this person than they do in their relationships, it could lead to an emotional entanglement. Healthy friendships shouldn’t threaten the stability of your relationship.

How you feel about each of these types of cheating is unique to you. You may find emotional cheating worse than physical cheating, or vice versa. You may take issue with micro-cheating, or you may instead find no issue with it as a flirtatious person yourself. Either way, it’s a sad state of affairs for the destruction any type of cheating can leave in its wake.

Today’s vent session topic is: When a partner makes you feel guilty about improving yourself. It’s a form of manipulation to make you feel bad, employed because they simply feel left out. It indicates an insecure person who does not truly support their partner.

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