Cheating is something we hope we never experience in a relationship, but what happens when you find yourself a victim of cheating? Do you leave your partner and move on, or stay in the relationship and try to fix the problem?
When in a relationship you hope to be with your partner for a long time and sometimes see marriage on the cards as you focus on building a future with them and include them in your long-term plan.
Navigating cheating in a relationship can either ‘make or break’ you as sometimes the relationship is never the same.
According to VeryWellMind, the beginning stages of accepting that your partner might be cheating are very hard to navigate as you look at them as someone you trust, later becoming naive to the idea that they would be unfaithful.
The publication adds that cheating usually disguises itself as late-night mysterious calls filled with excuses for working late. You might even notice your partner drift away from you emotionally and constantly make excuses for not being there for you.
Family therapist Amanda D. Mahoney, explains cheating in a relationship as a “Willingness to process the potential symptoms that may have contributed to the affair versus focusing solely on the act of the affair itself.”
Here are ways to navigate cheating in your relationship:
- Acknowledge your feelings: VeryWellMind hubs state that you should always take whatever emotion you are feeling after finding out into account. Suppressed emotions can lead to critical mental health issues.
- Forgive your partner: Whether you end up fixing things with them or not it’s important to forgive them so you can move on.
- Seek counselling: Giving up on a relationship is never easy where sometimes you want to seek help from a third-party professional as you hope to find ways to move on from the ordeal.
- Don’t seek revenge: TalkSpace says that cheating on your partner after they cheated is never the answer but rather creates a cycle of non-stop cheating.
- Don’t blame yourself: Your partner’s cheating is never your fault regardless of what the situation is. VeryWellMind mentions that you should not blame yourself for their actions and try not to play the victim in the situation too.
Also see: Make me laugh and I’ll take you home: Here’s why humour is the new sexy
