Relationships,CouplesAPR 19, 2026

Man Leaves Stable Marriage For “Exciting” Woman, Then Regrets Everything

Justinas Keturka, Ridhima Shukla and Rugilė Žemaitytė

The internet is full of stories about cheating partners and messy affairs, mostly told by the people who were cheated on. But once in a blue moon, there comes a different kind of post.

The one where the person doing the cheating bares it all and tries to own up to their actions.

This is one of those cases.

A man posted on Reddit admitting to a long history of cheating and chasing excitement outside his marriage. However, he says, he got a “reality” check when an affair turned out to be toxic, leading to public exposure.

He came to share what he thought were hard-earned pearls of wisdom, but the internet wasn’t buying it.

The comment section came down on him hard, collectively deciding that he deserves no sympathy at all.

A man opened up about cheating in two marriages and the consequences that followed

Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)

He says years of affairs destroyed his marriages, but a toxic affair gave him a reality check

Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)

Image credits: LoveAndLessons

Cheating usually leaves behind more than just broken trust

Research and common-sense dictates that cheating is a full-blown emotional earthquake. The partner who gets cheated on often goes through shock, anxiety, and depression, and feels a huge drop in self-confidence.

It can feel like a trauma response, because trust gets broken at a core level and the brain reads it like a threat to safety and stability.

And if cheating involves physical intimacy outside the relationship, there can be real health risks like infections and diseases. This adds another layer of fear and damage for the partner who didn’t consent to that risk.

Things get even more complicated within a family with kids. Children might not always understand that one of their parents is cheating. But they certainly do feel the shift in vibes at home.

And once a kid starts to understand what’s happening, it can lead to feelings of insecurity and trust issues. Research shows that kids of unfaithful parents are more likely to experience depression, anger, and resentment long after the affair has ended.

The takeaway is that extra-marital affairs, no matter what the reasons are, have the capability to hurt a lot of innocent people.

Some unfaithful partners are aware of this fallout and may experience a mix of guilt and stress. But studies show that such people usually manage these feelings through denial or justification.

Unfaithful partners may rationalize their actions by thinking things like “my marriage is bad,” or “I deserve happiness.”

This phenomenon is known as moral disengagement. Basically, the brain finds ways to switch off guilt so the person can keep repeating the behavior without feeling immediate emotional pain.

There’s a diffusion of responsibility which “involves sharing the blame with others involved to lessen personal accountability. For example, saying ‘my affair partner knew I was married and still pursued me, so it’s not just my fault,’” writes American psychologist Mark Travers.

He adds: “Cheating partners often blame the victims for the harm they inflict, shifting the responsibility from the perpetrator to the victim. This can sound like — ‘if my partner paid more attention to me and made me feel appreciated, I wouldn’t have needed to seek affection elsewhere.’ This enables infidelity by portraying it as a reaction to marital dissatisfaction or a partner’s perceived shortcomings.”

Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)

The breaking point usually comes when the affair gets exposed or the fallout becomes public

Experts say this exposure leads to a sharp spike in distress and social pressure, which can finally force people to confront what they’ve been avoiding.

Before exposure, the affair often exists in a “fantasy bubble” where the unfaithful partner minimizes the wrongdoing and tries to avoid the consequences. But once it’s out, the mind can no longer separate actions from identity.

This is usually the point where couples either fully break apart or start the difficult process of trying to repair what’s been damaged.

Research shows that timing matters a lot when it comes to recovery after infidelity. When affairs are disclosed early, instead of being discovered months or years later, couples tend to have a better chance at rebuilding trust.

Couples therapy after infidelity is also a layered process that takes a lot of time.

“Affair recovery means both partners commit to healing the hurt caused by the affair. This process is unique for each couple and doesn't follow a fixed timeline,” says licensed psychologist Heather Z Lyons.

Data shows that a significant number of couples who commit fully to therapy do stay together even after infidelity. Some studies place success rates for reconciliation in the range of roughly 60% or higher depending on their commitment level and willingness to change patterns.

“Rebuilding trust happens gradually through consistent, reliable behavior over time. The partner who cheated must prove they're trustworthy through actions, not just promises. This means being transparent about where they are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing,” Lyons adds.

But once the initial rush or justification phase fades, some unfaithful partners might start feeling heightened jealousy or paranoia themselves. It happens because they become more aware of how easily trust can be broken.

Therapists describe this as a shift from “acting without consequence awareness” to “post-exposure reflection,” where the mind starts replaying choices more critically. In some cases, this can lead to hyper-vigilance or distrust in their own relationship, especially if they fear retaliation or assume similar behavior from their partner.

There can be a thousand explanations, justifications, and backstories, but the fact remains that cheating is a major breach of trust. And it can create a lot of complications for everyone involved.