Many people don’t realize that they’re going into dangerous territory. It’s essential to know the signs of emotional infidelity.
It’s very important to know how to spot emotional cheating in a relationship. It can help you figure out if your relationships are completely harmless and based on friendship, or if you might be crossing a dangerous line.
Imagine how you'd feel…
How would you feel if your partner was close to someone else on an emotional level? Everyone has close friends and family members with whom they often talk about their thoughts and feelings. Not that. That’s not what I mean.
I’m talking about your partner getting close to someone else, and it seems like they tell them everything. Would you start to feel envious? Suspicious? Worried about what they were doing all the time? It’s possible that someone could make this kind of emotional connection without even meaning to. Maybe it’s a close friendship that no one plans to take anywhere else.
12 signs of emotional cheating that go too far:
The problem is that emotions sometimes get out of hand, and sometimes we don’t realize how far they’ve gone until it’s too late to do anything about it.
#1: You're always thinking about the other person.
If you can’t stop thinking about the other person, you should really think about why. If this person is just a friend, you shouldn’t be thinking about them all the time. We do this when we become more than just friends with someone. Can you love more than one person? Of course! But do you want to?
#2: You put your "friend" in the same category as your partner.
If you compare the two people in your life, you’ll have problems. Your friends, family, and coworkers see your partner as a separate person. You shouldn’t feel the need to compare them because they are different. If you do this, it’s a big warning sign.
#3: You're getting together more and more.
You spend time with the people you care about, but if you’re spending more time with others, you might want to find out why.
Do you want to spend more time with them? Then, why do you want to do that? Are the things that keep you together shifting and changing?
#4: You share your secrets with the other person.
There are some things you shouldn’t tell anyone but your partner, and there are some things about your relationship that you should never tell anyone else. If you do this, it’s one sign that you’re emotionally cheating on your partner.
#5: You don't tell your partner everything about the other person.
You might tell your partner you’re going to see someone else when, in reality, you’re going to see the person you’re starting to connect with. If this happens, you should think about why you were trying to hide the friendship. If it was nothing to worry about, you wouldn’t need to hide it. Emotional infidelity and the damage they can do to your love life that can’t be fixed.
#6: You and your partner are becoming less and less close.
Your sex life is probably going downhill because you’re just not as connected as you used to be.
#7: Before you meet someone, you always try to look your best.
Why do you feel like you have to get dressed up before seeing the other person? You want them to see you at your best so you can impress them and get them to like you back. That’s one of the big, big signs of emotional cheating.
#8: You can't deny that you have a connection.
You probably feel like the other person knows you better than anyone else does. This is one of the biggest signs of emotional cheating. You might have some things in common with this other person, but if it’s clear that you do, you might want to think about why you’re doing what you’re doing.
#9: Your message starts to get around.
What are you doing and why are you doing it if you text each other when you’re at home with your partner, make plans to meet at odd times, or just take your communication to a whole new level? Is it because you’re starting to like this person?
#10: They make their way into your dreams.
Okay, you don’t have complete control over your dreams, but if you think about this person more, especially right before you go to sleep, it’s likely that you’ll dream about them. Every time this happens, it worries me more. Even though you can’t always stop this, it is one of the signs of emotional cheating.
#11: When you see or hear from them, you feel something.
Think back to when you met your partner for the first time. Why do you feel this way every time this other person comes in contact with you? Most likely, it’s because you’re making a tourist attraction.
#12: If you put yourself in the other person's shoes, you wouldn't be happy.
Basically, if your partner did the same thing you do, would you be happy about it? Would it hurt you and make you sad? How would that make you feel? If you said “yes,” you may have seen one of the signs of emotional cheating. Stop what you are doing and analyze about why you are doing it. Do emotional relationships ever come to an end?
How many of these signs of emotional cheating do you agree with? Even just one of these things isn’t great news, but if there are several of them, you should sit down and have a good talk with yourself.
What makes you want to be with this other person? Is there anything or something missing from your current relationship that you’re trying to find elsewhere? How do you feel about the person you’re with?
Most of the time, emotional affairs do a lot more damage than sexual ones. Because sometimes having sex is a mistake, and emotions aren’t really a part of it. But when you get close to someone, that says a lot about the relationship you have.
Take a step back and gently think about everything. If you need to spend less time with the other person to understand what’s going on, then do that. If you really miss them, you need to ask yourself some harder questions.
When emotions are involved, it’s even harder to break free, but if you’re committed to your partner and love them, figure out why you started this emotional affair in the first place.
Carefully think about how you would feel if your partner was the one having an emotional affair. This is the best way to get yourself to stop. You’d be heartbroken, no doubt. Use that to make things right, whether that means fixing your relationship or deciding to leave.
There are a lot of signs of emotional cheating, and they often sneak up on you and bite you in the behind without you even noticing. Things need to be fixed right away before they get out of hand.
Articles you might like: The Limits of Friendship and Emotional Cheating, 10 Annoying Things Your Partner Does That Can Make You Cheat, Should You Be Concerned About Your Cheating Fantasy