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New revelation has emerged about how being cheated on affects the health of people in relationships.
If you have experienced infidelity in the past, this will make total sense.
Finding out your partner has been unfaithful can make you feel like your world is ending, but now new research has revealed that being cheated on can do damage to both your mental and physical health.
Researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno, quizzed 232 college students who had been cheated on in the past three months. The average length of the participants’ relationship was 1.76 years.
The study, published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, found that being the victim of cheating was linked to a number of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
But it also made shunned partners more likely to engage in risky behaviours like overeating, not eating enough, abusing drugs and alcohol, having unprotected sex or obsessively exercising.
Lead author M. Rosie Shrout said: “We were interested in this topic for a couple reasons.
“First, we know that infidelity is one of the most distressing and damaging events couples face.
“The person who was cheated on experiences strong emotional and psychological distress following infidelity.”
She continued: “We wanted to know if this emotional and psychological distress leads them to engage in risky health behaviours, such as unprotected sex, drug use, alcohol use, binge eating, or not eating at all.
“We were also interested in whether perceptions of blame played a role in their psychological distress and risky health behaviours.
“Did individuals who were cheated on blame their partners for cheating or did they blame themselves?
“Did who they blame affect whether they experienced psychological distress or engaged in risky behaviours?”
Interestingly the scorned partner displayed the same effects – no matter if they stayed in the relationship or dumped their love rat lover.
The researcher told PsyPost: “Being cheated on seems to not only have mental health consequences but also increases risky behaviours.
“We also found that people who blamed themselves for their partner cheating, such as feeling like it was their fault or they could have stopped it, were more likely to engage in risky behaviours.”
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Via Daily Star UK
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