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Understanding The Connection Between Male Depression And Emotional Affairs

Understanding The Connection Between Male Depression And Emotional Affairs

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Any affair, including an emotional one, severely threatens the trust between you and your partner. Gender differences do not limit a readiness to engage in an emotional affair. It is a mistake that both sexes are guilty of having emotional extramarital affairs. However, for some men, depression, as a psychological disorder, can be connected to the beginning of an emotional affair.  Moreover, depression and cheating are strongly associated.

One has to understand that depression is a mental health condition, and thus, having an emotional affair does not mean the afflicted person is ‘allowed’ to cheat on their partner. Yet, once the various aspects of the mistake are understood, in terms of the mindset of the person who made it, it becomes possible to prevent such occurrences in relationships in the future.

This blog is a perfect guide to understanding the relationship between male depression and emotional affairs.

What Is Depression?

Depression is a common mental health condition that severely affects your mood. Additionally, it causes a constant feeling of sadness and changes in how you think, sleep, eat, and behave. Depression can severely disrupt your daily life routine.

What Are The Signs Of Depression?

The signs of depression can be complex and vary widely between people. The signs of depression persist for weeks or months and are so severe that they can interfere with your work, social life, and family life.

The following are the common signs of depression:

  • Constant low mood or sadness
  • Hopelessness and helplessness
  • Reduced self-esteem
  • Constant guilt
  • Anxiety
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Lack of energy
  • Low libido
  • Body aches
  • Changes in eating habits

What Is An Emotional Affair?


When most people hear the word ‘cheating,’ they probably imagine a sexual affair. This is where a person engages in sexual activities with someone who they are not in a stable relationship with. This kind of sexual cheating is very detrimental to one’s relationship.

But there is another kind of affair where love can be acknowledged. Emotional cheating is having a close emotional relationship with an individual apart from your partner while in a committed relationship.

This type of affair is not discussed often, but like the others, it is even more challenging to deal with in a relationship.

If a person is having an emotional affair, that implies that they are engaging in intimate communication or misbehaving with another person who is not their partner.

There is often lust as well, though it may not always be consummated. Furthermore, when having an emotional affair, the betrayed partner can feel just as angry and hurt as the one who discovers the partner physically cheated on them.

How Do You Know If You Are Having An Emotional Affair?

  • You find yourself eagerly waiting to see or communicate with this other person more than you do your partner.
  • This ‘friend,’ which your partner wonders about, makes you instantly become secretive and defensive.
  • You often share the problems of your relationship with the other person.
  • You privately exchange gifts.
  • Your interactions move to another level where they become closer to personal conversations. They seem to be secretive, personal, intimate, and may even get sexual.
  • You share details of things with them that you have never shared with your partner.
  • Your phone is carefully protected, and messages are erased so your partner cannot learn about your other relationship.
  • You worry about being caught and feel the shame and guilt of ignoring your partner, yet you do nothing to stop things.

But it is essential not to overlook that even in a relationship that does not involve physical intimacy, it could betray your partner’s trust. Indeed, some people state that they would be even more upset in case of emotional infidelity than in the case where their partner has sex with someone else. Moreover, many people develop depression after cheating.

How Is This Connected To Male Depression?

Men are less likely to report depression symptoms as they remain unnoticed because they silently deal with complex situations that make them more vulnerable to self-harm or suicidal thoughts. Any form of depression that is untreated tends to compel men to look for ways to soothe themselves with “self-medication.” It may be drugs, alcohol, sex or food, or even exercise, gaming or work, or anything that can give them a lift to their ego.

Then comes another person or virtually who doesn’t belong in either of those categories. They listen, show sympathy, validate, and often compliment. Additionally, they are easy to approach and talk to.

Indeed, as depression leads to sexual disorders and low sexual desire, an emotional affair looks pretty safe. You can interact, flirt, and tear without any fear and risk. However, in reality, you are risking a lot of things, such as:

  • You are endangering your relationship through infidelity and unnecessary sneaking around.
  • You are hurting your partner so much that the damage caused is unrepairable.
  • Untreated depression signs can lead to deterioration of emotional and physical issues.

What To Do If You Have Had An Emotional Affair?

Although male depression and emotional affairs aren’t always correlated, one can lead to the other.

If you are presenting symptoms of depression, the best thing for you to do is treat it by seeking professional help, whether you cheated or your partner cheated on you.

Depression has different types of treatments, and these treatments are typically administered singly or combined, depending on the recommendation of the mental health professional.

Therapy

Are you depressed? Scientific publications have established that one of the approaches to treat this category of mental illness is the use of Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

CBT aims at identifying different behavioral processes that contribute to depression, and one is treated with the help of a mental healthcare provider. Additionally, you learn other ways to cope with negative thought patterns, and a mental health professional can help you alter such negative thought patterns into positive ones.

Also, if any kind of cheat has taken place in the relationship, you might want to try couples therapy. This kind of therapy can help manage other psychological concerns, which may sometimes have an impact on relationships.

Psychiatric medication for Depression

Some medicines are prescribed by a doctor to be taken orally for depression. These are known as antidepressants.

Although depression has many potential sources in the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of human behavior that are very complicated and often overlap, antidepressants can address a large number of symptoms of depression and aid in the regulation of the levels of some of the neurotransmitters that are present in the brain, including serotonin and dopamine.

There are several subcategories of antidepressants. These are SSRIs such as citalopram, SNRIs such as venlafaxine, and TACs.

It generally takes at least four to eight weeks for antidepressants to have an effect. Still, it’s not so different from the typical prescription medication since some symptoms will improve earlier.

Concluding Remarks!

Men get depressed and emotional affairs are not very different from physical affairs, which devastate relationships. Depression may lead men to find solace in the form of an emotional attachment that is illicit from the existing relationship and involves secret, intimate communications. Issues in relationships should be treated with therapy or medication and, therefore, have to be treated if the depression is to be cured if you are looking for a feasible and reliable mental health platform to treat your signs of depression due to emotional affairs. Additionally, the majority of people develop depression after cheating on someone. Now is the ideal time for you to contact one of the leading mental health platforms “Orange Coast Psychiatry.” We have a team of experts possessing ample knowledge about the best treatments for diminishing male depression and emotional affairs. So, wait no more; approach us and regain your long-lost mental stability.

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