The Dreaded Emotional Affair: What the Heck Is an Emotional Affair Anyway?

The Dreaded Emotional Affair: What the Heck Is an Emotional Affair Anyway

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An emotional affair is a vague combination of words that many use, but few can really define. Is it really cheating? Is it better than a having a physical affair? Are you better that the "cheater" next door because you did not sleep around on your wife? After all, all you did was have an emotional affair right? So lets try to define this vague yet important term.

An emotional affair is when one spouse develops a tight relationship with another person. But it is more than that. It is when that relationship goes beyond professional or friendship and crosses over into more intimate realms. I realize that this is still a bit vague, but it will do once I go into examples.

Why is this called an affair then? Because the intimacy and the close sharing of emotions that a person shares outside of his marriage, weakens that marriage in no uncertain terms. A spouse having an emotional affair might say that he/she feels "special" around a specific person (outside of the marriage). This is a betrayal of the other half.

Another point is that most people experiencing an emotional affair go to great length to hide this fact. Why? Because they know, in their deepest part, that this is wrong. They often argue that it is ok to have "friends from the opposite sex" This is true, but once that relationship becomes intimate, it becomes a problem.

I am not sure if having an emotional fling is worse that having a physical affair, but intuitively, I can tell you that they are not far from each other. Emotional can and probably will turn into physical at some point or another.

I hope this article has helped to shed some light on this term that seems to be used all the time nowadays. Do not be fooled by its benign sound. Emotional affairs are devastating!

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