Back when I was doing hospital work, on a particularly busy day, I hurried down the stairs. On reaching the landing between floors, I felt a sudden pain shoot through my back.
The rest of that day, I found myself cringing from the pain in my back. Although I’d been down the staircase hundreds of times with no pains, this time it was different. I was under enough stress to where the normal movements of going down the stairs triggered an effect on me I wasn’t expecting.
I learned that what seem to be normal events become painful when you’re under intense stress or long term stress. Under stress, at the right time, things go sideways.
This story sets the stage for a reader who wanted to know what the effects of cheating are on their mental health. Although there are some common effects, how they show up in you depends on how much stress you’re under and the traumas you’ve been through in life.
Let’s start with the sensation of being betrayed and lied to. If many of the people in your life have betrayed you, the affair would be devastating. The one place you had someone you could count on has suddenly let you down.
Then, there’s the lying. The cheater had you believing things that weren’t true. If you’re under tremendous stress, this can leave you with intense self-doubt. Being lied to leaves you unsure what to believe or who to believe.
With the cheater wanting to be with someone else, there’s the risk of bringing on intense depersonalization. Reactions to this range from feeling rejected or full blown wondering who you are and where you fit into the world.
At one point your identity was wrapped up in your spouse and now you can’t even count on that. For some of you, this can trigger a crisis surrounded by anxieties.
The affair also threatens your financial well-being. This can also trigger anxiety reactions ranging from worry to obsessions.
The affair, like many loses also triggers reactions. Those loss reactions range from sadness to depressed feelings.
There’s also the gut sensations of being sick to your stomach, the sleeplessness and obsessive thinking. The intensity of each of these has a wide range of effects as well.
These are just a few of the common sensations that come with an affair. Like my episode of twisting my back under stress, when the affair hits you the effects can be worrisome or life changing trauma.
If you’re facing these reactions, and want to move past them, the video on “Overcoming Affair Trauma” will guide you through them. Order your copy today and start moving past these symptoms so that you can start enjoying life again.
Keeping It Real,
Jeff
