Depression after betrayal is caused by excessive tension and difficulties in returning to life balance. The line of betrayal in any relationship may lie elsewhere, nevertheless, when it comes to an event that partners consider treason, it is difficult to avoid its negative consequences. In a relationship that carried a large emotional charge, a betrayed person experiences a lot of often extreme feelings. The landscape of a relationship after an act of infidelity is a balancing act between love and hate, guilt and hurt, sadness, lowered self-esteem and regret. In extreme cases, there are depressive disorders. What are the symptoms and treatment for depression after cheating?
What social consequences candepression after betrayalcause since statistics mercilessly show that betrayal occurs in more and more relationships? When deciding to live together, build a future or raise children, a couple enters into a kind of arrangement in which both sides engage effort, emotions, energy and time, while building a unique relationship. This is why most couples place so much emphasis on being faithful. The need to be the "one" person, creating exceptional intimacy and a sense of security means that any manifestation of infidelity can shake the family system at work.
Symptoms of depression after cheating
The experience of infidelity can be associated with extreme emotional exhaustion. Lack of faith that one can trust again after being betrayed, the destruction of deeply entrenched beliefs about oneself, one's partner and mutual relationship, often turn the world of the betrayed person upside down.
Prolonged apathy, anxiety or depressed mood that lasts too long may indicate reactive depression. This type of depression often occurs as a reaction to excessive stress or traumatic experiences such as the death of a loved one, participation or being a witness of an accident, but it can also occur as a result of betrayal or abandonment by a partner.
The lingering symptoms that should worry you as a result of betrayal are:
- deep sadness dominant daily life,
- indifference to social contacts,
- difficulty in continuing or taking dailyactivities (including professional ones),
- slowing down psychomotor functions and problems with concentration and memory (cognitive disorders),
- anxiety episodes or prolonged, continuous state of anxiety,
- loss of meaning in life,
- suicidal thoughts.
How to cope, when to seek therapy?
These types of symptoms should not be underestimated. Neglecting them may have additional negative consequences, both in the area of he alth and the quality of everyday life (other social relationships, professional life, etc.). Then it is worth consulting a psychologist and not ruling out pharmacological support from a psychiatrist. The fact is that it is usually extremely difficult for a person who is at the center of the events to distinguish between the negative consequences that usually arise in the person who is betrayed and the symptoms of depression after the betrayal. Therefore, for your own safety, it is worthwhile to consult a psychologist when the first negative effects of betrayal appear.
The feelings and thoughts that usually appear as a result of the experience of cheating are:
- anger, shame, fear, anxiety,
- feeling that the whole world has collapsed and the accompanying feeling of helplessness,
- sudden onset of difficulty sleeping,
- recurring visions of betrayal (the so-called flashback),
- changes in the area of behavior, e.g. tantrums, aggression,
- substance abuse.
The presence of the above factors does not have to be synonymous with depression, but their annoyance and negative consequences are a sufficient reason to want to get rid of them.
Often coping with negative experiences that have arisen as a result of infidelity overwhelms the strength of the betrayed person. It is difficult for her to reliably decide whether what is happening to her is depression or unpleasant symptoms that do not require treatment. In such a situation, with increasing destructive symptoms, it is necessary to consult a specialist. When deciding to support a psychotherapist, you can expect:
- return to relative emotional balance and a sense of security,
- regain a sense of agency, confidence in oneself and the relationship as such,
- rebuild self-esteem,
- developing mechanisms of coping with the sense of medicine, nagging thoughts, flashbacks, etc.
Treating depression after cheating
Treating depression after cheating does not differ in its basic principles from the treatment methodany other depression of a reactive nature. The main core of support is psychotherapy, but it often turns out to be a necessary supplement to a psychiatric consultation and pharmacological treatment.
In the situation of treating a patient with depression after being betrayed, a doctor may propose measures enabling the regulation of mood, sleep, etc. wives. Ultimately, the therapeutic process is to help restore balance and some kind of relief, but it is worth remembering that during the journey of therapy, there will be difficult moments that will arouse resistance or the desire to give up the therapy. You should know that this is a natural part of the "recovery" process, without which it is impossible to achieve the expected result.
When working with a psychotherapist, it is also possible to look at the reasons why betrayal causes such extreme reactions. Re-working through some events, seemingly unrelated to the current events, and finding ways to solve them, can lead to release from annoying symptoms after betrayal. Understanding the mechanisms that determine betrayal and everything that happens as a result of it gives a sense of predictability. Therefore, when there are subsequent stages of the reaction after the betrayal, the betrayed person goes through them more gently and is able to maintain a certain distance.
Only after going through the initial phase of psychotherapy, i.e. dealing with extreme emotions or controlling depressive symptoms, is it possible to make relatively conscious decisions related to further action. At this stage, there are considerations on the possible rebuilding of the relationship, a complete break in the relationship, the way of regulating further contacts with the partner, etc.
In the process of returning to balance, there is also a moment to look at the betrayal in terms of a lesson, extracting from this experience everything that can be considered constructive. Such a difficult situation can show which of their needs have so far been neglected by the betrayed person, what mistakes were made in the relationship and what desires appear in the context of future relationships.