Source: skynesher / Getty
If your long-term partner has cheated on you, then you might be experiencing some of the worst pain a person can go through. According to PsychCentral, suffering infidelity is so traumatic that it can cause symptoms in line with post-traumatic stress disorder. Just when you’re reeling from the extreme heartache of betrayal, you’re then forced to make one of the toughest decisions: whether or not to stay with the cheater. Infidelity is, unfortunately, common. It’s difficult to pin down exactly how many couples go through it, perhaps because not all cheaters confess, not all who are cheated on open up about it, and people have different definitions of cheating. The Institute For Family Studies reports that 16 percent of married people in America have cheated on their spouse.
The rate at which couples survive infidelity is also a bit of a mystery. There is mixed data between married versus non-married couples. Plus, there are couples who do “work it out,” but ultimately divorce or split up later. Research reported on BestLife states that married couples are more likely to work things out after cheating than non-married couples. Whether you are married or not, if your partner has cheated on you and you want to try to work through it, there are things you should know. Specific steps have to be taken if the relationship has a chance of not just surviving but thriving again. Here is how to recover from infidelity.
The Nature Of Infidelity: Long-Term Affairs Vs Flings
Source: dragana991 / Getty
The first thing to understand is that the nature of the cheating is greatly linked to whether or not the relationship will survive it. According to Couples Academy, co-founded by an infidelity recovery specialist and a marriage coach, long-term affairs are much more damaging to a marriage than one-night stands or short flings. Brief encounters can be blamed on a short lapse in judgment. However, long-term affairs imply the ongoing decision to stray and come with webs of lies that deeply damage trust in a marriage.
