When you walked down the aisle, you undoubtedly dreamed of spending the rest of your life with only one person. Your spouse, unfortunately, had different ideas. If your husband or wife has cheated on you, you may be vulnerable to more than just psychological and emotional injuries.
An article in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships reveals that victims of infidelity often experience a wide range of physical consequences. Specifically, you may have an increased likelihood to engage in unhealthy activities after your spouse cheats.
Coping with the emotional fallout
Participants in the infidelity study reported feeling anger, anxiety, depression and sadness after hearing news of their partners’ unfaithfulness. To cope with the emotional fallout of the infidelity, study participants tended to overeat, consume excessive amounts of alcohol or abuse controlled substances. Each of these behaviors may contribute to poor health or cause chronic ailments.
Maintaining your healthy lifestyle
For those with cheating spouses, it is often critical to focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Still, you may simply lack the skills necessary to recover from infidelity on your own. Working with an experienced therapist may prevent long-term emotional, psychological and physical harm. Likewise, you may need to lean heavily on your social support network to weather the storm.
Taking your next step
If you no longer want to be in a legal marriage with your unfaithful spouse, no one can blame you. Fortunately, New Jersey law allows you to use adultery as grounds to seek a divorce. The obvious benefit of proceeding with a fault-based divorce as opposed to a no-fault one is your spouse does not have to agree to end the marriage.
Ultimately, regardless of what you decide to do with your marriage, focusing on healthy behaviors and asking for support may help you move past your spouse’s infidelity.