Cheating can be a painful experience for a loyal person. You may feel that you have drawn the short stick by being a loyal person in a relationship. There is a lot of hurt and disbelief when you get to know that your partner has been cheating when you have been loyal. Even the person who cheats will know that they have caused tremendous pain and sorrow to his/her loyal partner.
A partner can cheat on the other due to various reasons. It isn’t necessary that both are unhappy and that is why one strayed. Cheating can happen in seemingly happy relationships as well. Self-exploration or self-discovery is something that may trigger an affair. Some cheaters feel freedom by doing this as it reflects their repressed desires. They take comfort in it for a short while. For example, to feel young and free again. There is also an allure of the life that he/she hasn’t lived which makes them cheat. They want to take up the missed opportunities and give in to curiosity. Some people even get a thrill from breaking convention. And cheating is like breaking the sacred rules of a committed relationship. A cheater may love the feeling of new emotions in the affair, so he/she goes ahead with it.
Whatever the reason, cheating hurts the loyal person in a relationship. There are various effects of cheating in a relationship. Read on to know.
Emotional Pain – Cheating can throw a relationship off balance. Discovering that your partner has been cheating can cause a lot of emotional pain and destruction. It can create depressive episodes. The cheating partner may try to convince others that it wasn’t him/her that caused it but the other partner. This further causes pain to the loyal partner.
Trust issues – Cheating affects a loyal person in a relationship in a way that means that they cannot trust their partner any longer. The loyal person may also start to doubt everyone around them. Following the affair, there will be plenty of lies that come to the forefront and hence there will be mistrust. There will be no confidence in the relationship, and it may also affect the loyal person’s self-esteem.
Alienation – Cheating will alienate the two partners, but it will also affect the friends and family. People will take sides, and some will distrust the cheating partner in all facets. The label of a cheater may remain for a long time.
Sexual Appetite – Cheating or infidelity can destroy the sexual drive of the loyal person in a relationship. Even if you want to work to rebuild the relationship, sex often comes last. The myriad of emotions kills the sexual appetite. After all, sex is a bond-building act and its absence doesn’t bode well for the relationship.
Blame – The blame game starts when cheating is discovered. The innocent party will blame the guilty and the guilty will do vice-versa to alleviate guilt and sometimes to portray themselves as better than they are. Some partners will make the innocent spouse as the culprit and do everything to garner support for themselves.
Guilt – Guilt will grow over time. Soon it will be all that occupies the person’s mind. But guilt-induced actions will not be good for the relationship.
Desperation – There also might be displays of desperation. It could be a cheating partner or a loyal partner. Desperate acts can create more issues later on.
Anxiety – One of the huge psychological effects of cheating is anxiety. The loyal partner may experience anxiety in different ways. Some people stop doing things that they love, some cannot sleep, and some cannot focus on anything.
Cheating is a very unpleasant experience and it may badly affect or even destroy the loyal partner.