Technology has changed life dramatically as we know it, for better or worse. Sure, it added convenience in different ways, but one of the biggest drawbacks is that it also gave people more ways to commit infidelity.
Dating apps, for one, have been a tool for cheaters to hide their double lives from their partners. This woman suspects that her husband is using one of these platforms, and it has begun to turn her life upside down.
Technology has given people more ways to cheat on their partners, and dating apps are one of them
A woman learned that her husband might be on a dating app, and she is preparing for the worst
Dating apps have encouraged emotional infidelity
Before today’s technological advancements, illicit romantic affairs were more physical. However, the dawn of dating apps has made emotional cheating easier for people.
According to Write State University professor Dr. Katherine Hertlein, infidelity through inappropriate communication with someone online is equally as devastating as physical infidelity.
“With the Internet, we’re moving away from just physical ideas about infidelity and acknowledging emotional infidelity,” Dr. Hertlein told the American Psychological Association (APA), noting that women are more threatened by the emotional betrayal.
Couples therapist Alicia Muñoz defines emotional infidelity as a “secretive, sustained closeness” with a person who isn’t your primary partner. She also noted that it can happen without romance, making it harder to detect.
“Because this type of cheating can look ‘healthy’ from the outside, it can be hard to name and confront,” Muñoz explained.
“The advent of the internet and the abundance of ways to connect with people all over the world has opened up the number of channels available for different forms of cheating to take place outside of a primary relationship.”
Involving a professional may be necessary to get past a partner’s emotional cheating
Emotional cheating destroys trust. Even in the story’s case where the author has not yet proven her husband’s infidelity, she is less likely to trust him after discovering the possibility of an affair.
As Cleveland Clinic psychologist Dr. Chivonna Childs points out, the couple needs to rebuild the broken trust, since the relationship’s foundation has also been damaged.
However, a professional may be able to answer the cheated-on partner's questions.
“You’re going to have a ton of questions, and there needs to be a free space to do that. That space is more likely to happen in couples counseling,” Dr. Childs said.
The author does not seem open to couples counseling. She appears more adamant about knowing whether her husband may have actually been cheating.
However, she did mention that she is preparing for the worst, and speaking with a professional may help her deal with the situation better.
One reader clarified what the app actually was, which didn’t make the situation any better for the couple
The woman shared an update, revealing that her suspicions were confirmed
She even got to speak with one of the women her husband had been communicating with through the app
Readers showed sympathy and words of support for the author
