You may deny it, but here are 8 signs you are deeply involved in an emotional relationship

Having a physical affair is wrong in so many ways. But what happens when you have an emotional affair and how do you even know you’re having one?

If you’ve ever had to tell your partner that you’re “just friends” with another member of the opposite gender and you KNOW you’ve never been physical with them, you need to ask yourself whether or not you could actually be having an emotional affair here…

Listed below are eight ways to tell that you are involved in an emotional relationship.

1) You’d Be Embarrassed If Your Partner Saw Your Conversations: When we converse with our friends via text, we can get a bit rude, a bit gossipy and maybe even a bit naughty (not in that way!). But we draw the line at having conversations that we’d hate our partner to see. In fact, the only conversations we wouldn’t want our partner to see are usually about them. For example, we might be raising concerns about our relationship or talking about their bad habits! However, if you’ve been having conversations with a friend that would make you mortified if your partner ever saw them, because of their risqué content, then you’re playing with fire.

2) You Dress To Impress Someone Else: If you’re in a happily committed relationship with someone you both love and fancy, that person should be the only one you want to dress to impress. Sure, there’ll be evenings out, conferences and cocktails with the girls where you want to look nice, but when it comes to the opposite sex, there should be only one person whose eye you want to catch.

3) Your Partner Has Raised Concerns: If your partner has gone as far as questioning your friendship with this other person, you need to take their concerns seriously. Clearly something isn’t right.

4) You Seek Alone Time With Someone Else: Alone time is key to a happy relationship. We all want to spend one-on-one time with our partner, cuddling in bed or cozying up to a TV show. But what does it mean when you start seeking alone time with someone else? It’s not a good sign. In fact, it’s a pretty huge sign that you’re having an emotional affair.

Read also: 7 relationship rules you shouldn’t break

5) You Text A LOT: We all have friends of the opposite gender who we text, chat to on social media and perhaps even email. But we know there are boundaries and we tend to know when too much texting becomes unacceptable and just plain wrong. If you know deep down that you text a LOT, then there’s clearly something up. The only person you should be texting a lot is your partner.

6) You Fantasise About Them: Okay, we know that everyone – even those in otherwise happy relationships – have fantasies. It’s normal to fantasise. But it’s not okay or normal to fantasise about another guy who we know well. Fantasising about a friend when we’re supposedly in a loving relationship is taboo and another huge sign that something’s not right.

7)They Get You: Your partner used to “get” you. That’s why you got together with him in the first place. But now you’re starting to think someone else gets you. They get your quirks, your habits, they share your sense of humour and even finish off your sentences. There’s a certain synergy going on that’s kinda weird but feels right. In which case, it’s probably very wrong.

8) You Share In Jokes: If the two of you share in jokes that no one else would get, it’s another sign that you’re involved in an emotional affair here. Maybe you’ve created memes together that only you two would laugh at. If so, it’s kinda a bad sign that something isn’t right in your relationship. In jokes? They’re for best friends and our partners.

 

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