The recent downside in the economy has affected people in so many ways aside from the obvious impact it made on their sources of livelihood or employment.
There is a growing trend among spouses needing to work in another state or even abroad to make ends meet and the same holds true for other people living together or involved in relationships. Such situations would more often than not – lead to tension, stress, and cracks in their relationships.
But one of the most pressing concerns in long distance relationships looming over the heads of the partner who gets left behind is the specter of infidelity.
Long distance relationships and infidelity are not necessarily synonymous entities, but the possibility of cheating appears to be higher in long distance relationships than any other for the obvious reason of physical separation between partners for longer periods of time.
Suspicions of infidelity arising in a long distance relationship can leave a partner feeling confused, and oftentimes utterly helpless about the situation.
Is she cheating on me…. is he sleeping with someone else right now… such questions that plague the minds of spouses who gets left behind.
They don’t need to be in this desperate situation much longer as there are ways to identify the signs of cheating in long distance relationships and confirm or refute their suspicions of their partner’s infidelity – and finally have peace of mind.
Types of Infidelity in Long Distance Relationships
Before delving on how to detect the signs of cheating in long distance relationships, you need to first understand the types of infidelity in such situations.
Knowing so would help you identify the problem and probably pinpoint the real root cause and the reason behind why your lover is cheating in the first place – so you can take action accordingly.
* Physical Infidelity
It’s a basic fact that many men and women like some variety in their sex life. Some harbor sexual fantasies that they are afraid to open up to their lovers or cannot do so because of their current physical separation.
Giving in to these sexual cravings, these men or women would seek other means to satiate this need while away from their partners. This can be likened to food where cravings and hunger pangs would never go away unless sated.
In such cases, you will need to understand that physical infidelity is usually limited to simple satisfaction of carnal desires and would not take precedence over their love for family and their life partners.
The problem however is that physical infidelity can eventually lead to a different level beyond the physical that can be irreparable if left unchecked – which will often lead to permanent separation or divorce.
* Emotional Infidelity
Emotional infidelity is physical infidelity in reverse – it starts with satisfying the emotional needs before it evolves into the physical. Being in a close and intimate emotional relationship with another while away from their partners technically does not break any vows or commitment they may have as it usually lacks any physical relationships at first.
However, such relationships would lead a person to share more personal aspects of their lives with the other person and this will eventually lead to physical infidelity and destruction of the relationship.
Signs of Cheating Your should be Watching Out For
There are several potential signs of cheating and infidelity in a long distance relationship but it would depend on the nature of the people involved.
Communicating with your long distance partner would be your primary tool for detecting and identifying these signs – in their manner of speech, their lack or changes in how they communicate, what they talk about when they’re with their partners and their overall attitude towards them.
* How Your Partner Speaks to You
Speech experts can detect dishonesty in how a person would emphasize certain sentences or particular words.
Honest persons would usually argue in their defense if you accuse them of infidelity but a liar on the other hand would usually disregard this or downplay them with submissive words.
Another sign would be changes in the frequency or how often they would talk with you on the phone and how changes in how long these talks would last.
They would often resort to conflicting reasons such as being busy or they really don’t like talking on the phone at all and other things they can think of.
* How Your Partner Seems to Have Disappearing Acts
There may be instances where your long distance partner seems to disappear or be unaccounted for several hours or even days, and then usually coming up with strange alibis that would later become even stranger or more unbelievable as these “lapses” in time become more often.
* How Your Partner’s Attitude towards You Seems to Change
During the first periods of long distance relationship, people are often eager to talk or communicate with their partners through any means available.
Lovers at this stage would often talk to each other whenever it is possible and would take as much time as possible. Changes in this initial attitude can be a sign that something is amiss.
His or her interest in knowing about your activities, particularly the small and trivial ones, would slowly decline.
It would take them a longer time to respond to emails or replying to text messages.
When they’re back at home they would often appear distant or preoccupied and would rather go out with friends that stay home with you.
* How Your Partner Talks about Other Men or Women
A cheating partner would still seek and try very hard to maintain your trust in them.
One way they will do this is to talk about their exes and their past problems with them, people of the opposite sex they meet while away, and new friends they gain – in an attempt to gain your trust with this sudden “openness”.
How to Confirm that Your Long Distance Partner is Cheating on You
Short of hiring a private detective to confirm your suspicions, there are other ways to confirm and know if your long distance partner is cheating on you or not.
Communication is again the best tool next to body language in knowing whether they are hiding something from you.
Rather than bombarding or asking them a series of questions that seems interrogative or accusatory, you can simply ask them what they did while they were away – and observe and listen carefully as to how they will carry the conversation.
Liars would often fluctuate in their speech, speaking either slowly or too fast and would often take time to respond to seemingly basic questions. Don’t make it too obvious that you are trying to catch them with trick questions.
You could also talk about or make up a story about a certain friend who caught his or her lover cheating and observe how they will react – and be uncomfortable – with the story.
Just pay attention to every detail in their speech, their mood, and the words they use and he or she will expose themselves in due time.
What’s Next?
If you are separated from your partner in a long distance relationship for whatever reason, you have a greater chance that he or she is cheating on you.
Many so-called experts would advice that such relationships would not work out or survive.
True, having a long distance relationship can be very difficult and would put your relationship or union at risk, but the final outcome will always depend on you.
What you do after detecting the signs of cheating, and confirming that it is so, would depend on whether you want to end your relationship – or make the necessary steps to prevent such end from happening.