Emotional Affairs Are Causing Divorce

Does an emotional affair count as adultery? If your spouse has become emotionally involved with another man or woman and you learned about it, there’s a good chance that it was very destructive to your marriage. Perhaps the “other person” was a former flame, a co-worker your spouse sees every day or someone who is trying to take their emotional affair to the next level, which is physical intimacy.

Sometimes when spouses have “emotional affairs” they act like they were no big deal and they make the innocent spouse feel like they’re crazy or overreacting, but we assure you, there’s nothing crazy about discovering an emotional affair and feeling just as betrayed as you would if it was consummated.

Ask anyone who has been in your shoes and they’ll probably say that an emotional affair is just as bad, if not worse than cheating. Or they’ll say it’s a form of cheating.

Defining an ‘Emotional Affair’

How do you define an emotional affair? It’s when two people develop a deep emotional connection, and they keep their relationship a secret because one or both of them are in a monogamous relationship or marriage with another person.

An emotional affair is not the same as a platonic relationship. Instead, it’s like a romantic relationship but without sexual intimacy. In many cases, the two people have exchanged racy texts or emails and they have discussed the desire or even their plans to have sex. Often, it’s just a matter of time and planning before they commit adultery.

Technically, an emotional affair is not the same as infidelity or adultery, even though most innocent spouses would argue otherwise. The reason it’s not considered adultery is that it did not involve sexual intercourse. For it to be adultery, sexual intercourse must have taken place.

Social Media, Technology & Emotional Affairs

While people have been having emotional affairs for a very long time, advances in technology and the growth of social media have led to an uptick in emotional affairs, many of which have directly caused divorces. Not only that but with all the digital bread crumbs of evidence, more spouses are discovering their husband’s and wife’s emotional affairs when it was easier to hide them in the past.

Did an emotional affair ruin your marriage? For compassionate divorce representation, contact Cage & Miles for help.