When I’m The Cheater

We need to talk about why some people cheat

Stock photo provided by UnSplash

I cheated on a partner. I will be purposefully vague about the timelines and use aliases to protect my own personal history from potential doxxers (and other people who would approach this with malicious intent) as well as to protect those who were involved with this moment time in my life.

Before I get into the graphic details of this relationship — a forewarning for those who have experienced any kind of intimate partner violence (verbal, psychological, emotional, physical, etc.). This article has the chance of triggering mental health distress (PTSD flashback, panic attacks, etc.). Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

I was young when this happened. Older than 15, but younger than 25. Leading into this, I was in a relationship with a boyfriend where things started out fantastically. However, more and more red flags started popping up during the relationship. At first, I ignored said red flags (call it being “love blind”, where a person is in the “honeymoon” phase of a relationship and is blind to what is painfully obvious to outsiders looking into the relationship). If I didn’t ignore the red flags, I excused them, given what I knew about my boyfriend’s personal history of trauma and domestic violence from their own family they received as a child. This was the worst mistake of my…