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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

I don’t deserve it, but can I have a handhold please?

125 replies

Aichpeel · 09/07/2020 17:21

Please help me to be strong.

I’ve had an affair, I’ve ended it, and now I need to be strong and stay no contact. I’m anxious, and very sad and overwhelmingly guilty.

Thank you.

OP posts:
BlueEyedPersephone · 10/07/2020 07:26

@Aichpeel , well done for having talking to your councillor, and deciding on a course of action, the fact you still feel torn says you are still on a journey to find out what you feel/ want. The kindest thing is to separate and let both of you decide what you need to be happy, Once you tell your dh you are unhappy and need space you may find they knew already.

People shouldn't judge you as they know very little about your situation and don't know why or what led you to the affair in the first place. Your dh may not be an innocent either but a bunch of strangers have no clue...

MrMeeseekscando · 10/07/2020 07:39

Non judgemental handheld here.
You're grieving. Time will make it better.
Affairs are extremely common and the people on this thread being spiteful have nothing to be proud of either.
Life is short, and it's not black and white.
Look after yourself and then decide what you would like to do regarding your marriage. Fix it or move on.

HoneyBeeHappy · 10/07/2020 07:48

Only on mn is the cheater considered to be evil beyond doubt and the cheated-on an innocent victim incapable of no wrongdoing.

While an affair is not justified, there are often issues within a relationship which lead to an affair, and i would say that as much for a man as a woman. While there absolutely are people who cheat on their partners purely because they can, there are also people for who an affair is the wake up call that something is not right in their marriage. And I would bet money that there are even people on here who have posted about their partner’s affair and received nothing but sympathy, but who are equally culpable in the reasons which led to the affair in the first place.

I had an affair. There isn’t a justification for it, but the things that led to it are an emotionally abusive and controlling marriage. I have written on here in depth about it before so I won’t bore people with all the details, but just as a couple of examples, when your husband turns off the heating to make sure you can’t use it while he’s out, or tells you before your six week check post birth that you need to go and have sex to make sure you still can and no isn’t an option, in fact it only occurred to me about seven years after we split what that one actually meant, but there’s more, then I think it’s fair to say that he’s no saint.

Should I have had an affair? No, I should have left the fucker years before, but the truth is there is very little support for people leaving emotionally abusive marriages, because they’re almost never abusive from the outside.

In my case the affair ended before my marriage did, but it was an out for me when there previously wasn’t one. And I cut all contact with the AP and haven’t spoken to him since. The longer you don’t speak to someone, the more your memories of them fade.

Only the OP knows the state of her marriage. If you want to work on it then you both need to address the issues which have led to the affair, because these things are rarely one-sided. That doesn’t mean you necessarily need to lay the blame on it with your DH, but it does mean that if there are things from his side which have led to the unhappiness in your marriage then he also needs to address those.

And coming online for a virtual kicking achieves nothing other than to make you feel worse. The issues are yours to deal with, you’ve acknowledged that by ending the affair and wanting to talk about it. But they’re not for other people to judge. Other people’s judgements are just words, they can’t achieve anything. If your marriage is over then judgement from others isn’t going to change that, and if you want to work on it then you have to work with your DH, not seek the justification or judgement from other people.

catfeets · 10/07/2020 07:55

You need to find out why you cheated and whether you want to stay married.
I ended my marriage and I ended my affair. It made me realise that my husband was dragging me down and undermining me. He was violent and I got out. I already knew he'd been cheating on me for years too.

Several years later I still miss the other bloke on occasion. He was supportive and helped me realise my self worth. He helped me get away from my husband and risked his job and family life so I could get out.
Our affair was mainly emotional and I miss his company. I felt a sense of peace being around him and we both felt comforted just being in the same room as each other at work. Although I ended it when I met someone else (another lying, cheating, nasty piece of shit like my ex husband was), we still occasionally met up to talk when his mental health was bad. One day he told me he was quitting work and just walked out. We haven't been in contact now for a few years and I do wonder if he thinks of me as I think of him every now and then. I found out he has plenty of previous for shagging his colleagues so maybe not such a nice guy as I thought he was at the time.

I think you need to work out if your marriage is giving you what you need. Mine certainly wasn't. You need to try to process your feelings for your affair partner and don't leave things unprocessed like I did or you'll still be thinking about the affair years later. If your marriage partner is genuinely a great person who you don't have a real reason for cheating on, then you need to question why you did it. Boredom maybe?
Do you truly think you should stay in the marriage? Are you going to tell them the truth and hurt them - or keep your secret? Why chose the affair with that specific person? What did they give you that you weren't already getting? Are they truly the person you thought they were, or were you romanticising the affair/affair partner?

When I met my DP I told him about my previous affair as I would definitely think twice about starting a relationship with someone who had cheated in the past. Luckily he understood and there's absolutely no way I'd ever cheat on him. I don't agree 'once a cheat always a cheat' applies in every case.

saraclara · 10/07/2020 08:01

Another who says don't be tempted to confess.
You've done the right thing. Any confession now would be self indulgent and about you rather than your husband. You'd be transferring the pain of your guilt on to him to make you feel better and him feel devastated.

The people who say you should tell him are basically just wanting you to suffer the blame, without caring that he'll suffer more

Thisisworsethananticpated · 10/07/2020 08:08

Suffering is suffering
Hand hold from me too
You must feel really shit
Keep going with the therapy

Morana23 · 10/07/2020 08:24

Non judgemental hand hold from me OP Flowers the pain you are feeling will fade in time. Do what you have to do to get yourself through this, well done for seeking help. Not been in your situation but I'm no angel and I've made plenty of mistakes in my life.

Ginnyrellas · 10/07/2020 08:25

OP, hand hold from me.
I have been the “victim” of an affair, but as PP have stated it isn’t all black and white in a relationship and we don’t all live in a magical bubble where marriage is bliss and we are all married to our best friends. I’m a FIRM believer in everyone makes mistakes. Its how we grow as human beings and learn from
Our experiences. What you need to figure out now is what you want, you ended the affair which is your first step in truly figuring out what it is you want from your marriage, if that is what you want. I don’t condone affairs,nor have I ever had one. But it doesn’t mean I can’t empathise. The Revelation of my DH affair made me question everything about my own part to play in it, and as a result I now have a more stable marriage, and we now trust each other 100%. I would give your DH full disclosure, he’s going to know something isn’t right. We as humans aren’t great at masking our emotions. Chances are he’s been trying to figure it out for a while now. At least then. You can start from ground zero and build something back. If that’s what both of you want.
My sympathies OP.

Stellakent · 10/07/2020 08:27

Handhold from me, no judgement. You'll get through it. Life is complicated.

Normalmumandwife · 10/07/2020 08:28

@Spotsandstars Be honest with you dh.

If you tell him your marriage will probably end. If not it is life changing. If you want to stay married I wouldn't tell him but make changes if you can to deal with why you had the affair

stophuggingme · 10/07/2020 08:48

@MrMeeseekscando

Non judgemental handheld here. You're grieving. Time will make it better. Affairs are extremely common and the people on this thread being spiteful have nothing to be proud of either. Life is short, and it's not black and white. Look after yourself and then decide what you would like to do regarding your marriage. Fix it or move on.
Your handholding post - amongst others - is actually incredibly judgmental. Lots of sweeping statements and clap trap about life being too short, not being black and white. Talk about stating the obvious.

I am not condemning the OP. Its nobody’s job to male her wear a hair shirt, or canonise her for the torture she claims to be going through.

What I have issue with is the idea that whatever spurious reasons possible for keeping an ended affair a secret is that in doing so you assume emotional sovereignty over the injured party, by not being honest and allowing them to make up their mind.

The notion that the OP is saving him devastation and not transferring her guilt etc is absurdly patronising and insulting to most normal peoples intelligence.

Lovemusic33 · 10/07/2020 09:12

OP, I posted earlier but just wanted to say that the pain you will be feeling will be the same as breaking up from a partner but the difference being you won’t have support from family or friends so I can imagine it will be hard. You know it wouldn’t have lasted as you are both married, you have done the right thing and you need to keep telling yourself that but you do need to work on what made you do it in the first place? If your marriage isn’t a happy one then you need to consider leaving.

I almost cheated in my dh (now ex), it made me realise that my marriage was over, it made me resent dh as I wanted this other man. I had been unhappy for a while and dh would tell me that I couldn’t leave as nobody else would want me. When I realised I had feelings for someone else I split with dh, it didn’t last with the other man, it was just sex as I had hardly had sex with dh for years. 5 years on and I’m still single but pleased I left. I couldn’t stay with someone when I’m tempted by other men, obviously something was seriously wrong with our relationship.

MrMeeseekscando · 10/07/2020 09:30

@stophuggingme Why pick on my post?
I've been on both sides.
I feel my comments are accurate.
The OP is grieving. I know. I've been there. Happy people don't have affairs, and the vitriol that is piled on to people on this site is pretty disgusting at times.
Nothing I said was untrue.

hustler2020 · 10/07/2020 09:34

let sleeping dogs lie
you would be surprised how many people have affairs

MrMeeseekscando · 10/07/2020 09:36

@stophuggingme I chuckled at your username! Love it! Grin

greenflamingo · 10/07/2020 09:38

Well done for ending it. Many have made the same mistake you made and many have found a way through.

Dontletitbeyou · 10/07/2020 09:53

So many people cheat , probably far more than anyone realises . Wouldn’t beat yourself up , you’re one of millions . Marriage means jack these days , sad but in my experience true .
Most people would want to know if their DH/DW had cheated ,( even more so if they were still emotionally involved with the OM/OW) as they are then in the position to make the decision to go or stay . At the end of the day you have to look to your conscience, and if you can live with the secret

stophuggingme · 10/07/2020 09:54

[quote MrMeeseekscando]@stophuggingme I chuckled at your username! Love it! Grin[/quote]
I’m all hugged out Grin

Sorry I wasn’t singling you put it was just the last one in a similar vein that I read so it was uncalled for

I just feel that without trust a relationship is dead. Infidelity may not always break a relationship but if you love that person you could not allow them to live lie and hide what you did.

As you say life is complicated and not black and white. If that’s the case then it’s not the case that the OP s partner would just Walk away. But people deserve to know and make informed decisions.

sandy541 · 10/07/2020 10:16

I agree with Dontletitbeyou.
It's also been said here that happy people don't cheat, I wish exh had said he wasn't happy, we may have been able to fix our marriage. I tied my self in knots afterwards thinking what I could have done differently, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't my job to make him happy, he had to work that out for his self. Only thing I will say to you is be honest with him, chances are he will at some point realise something is wrong, I did, it's torture not knowing the truth.
Good luck ❤

felixowl · 10/07/2020 11:52

I do detest these finger wagging judgemental Puritans with their perfect thoughts.

On the other hand I have not noticed a serious suggestion that OP should stay silent, shrug and carry on as if it had not happened.

I get the impression that it has only just happened. Therefore all is raw and emotions tender.
After a while, days, weeks or even months OP will be able to see context. She will be able to work out the why and the what of the wandering and the return. Then she will explain.
Given that she is where she is now. ie. Wanting to reconstruct, a blurted tear filled confession is the worst alternative for all 4 adults concerned.

I am not a Roman Catholic but I believe the ideas of atonement could be useful to all connected. That is, OP works to correct the wrong and works in secret to compensate and minimise the damage caused.

I do know of an instance where someone had to admit to a much worse sin/crime. In time there was understanding with little animosity.

Still a hand hold. Still thoughts and prayers for all.

MingeofDeath · 10/07/2020 13:34

Handhold from me. Grieve for your lost relationship with your affair partner. Possibly concentrate on the reasons why you did have an affair and work on those areas in order to improve your marriage (if that's what you want). Don't tell your husband. Hope your pain eases x.

Ladj · 10/07/2020 15:38

I did comment yesterday and from personal experience of being on the receiving end as it were I think the fairest thing you can do is confess. It won't be an easy conversation to have but it's not fair on your DH to be living a lie. I think he's got a right to know where his wife has been if you like. I've decided to give my DH another chance, just one mind you, and to be fair he is doing his best to rectify things. I still have awful images in my head and this is going to take me a long time to get over, but I think your DH deserves the right to decide for himself if you should stay together. I really think it's better than living a lie as if you haven't got honesty how can you build a better future?

heartsore20 · 10/07/2020 21:32

I hope you are ok op - be kind to yourself

mollymawk · 11/07/2020 01:09

I think you have done the right thing to end it, of course. But I would urge you to tell your husband as soon as you feel able. My experience is this: I separated from my husband last year after discovering an affair, which felt truly as if a bomb had shattered my life, but later I learned that he had previously had at least two others dating back a decade. And now I have to live with the feeling that I have had 10 years of my life stolen that I will never get back. I spent a decade working hard at a relationship that was simply not what I thought it was. My husband made all the choices and I had no opportunity to make mine. Your husband is an adult. Allow him to make his own choices with all the facts.

SummerCherry · 11/07/2020 01:55

Urgh... you are so needy! I’m sorry, you hurt the man you married and betrayed him terribly, had a great few months lying and having sex with someone else, and now ended it and YOU want a handhold?! None from me. Tell your husband. Selfish.

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