The case study below indicates a couple of those fears.

The fear of not knowing and feeling safe.

First, your fear may arise because you no longer feel safe in trusting yourself. It’s difficult to trust your inner guidance and your thoughts since what you once thought was reality is called into question. This is especially powerful if your cheating husband or wife cuts him/herself off from you or presents a series of lies, mistruths, half truths or fabrications.

As well, your partner may be so tied to the affair that s/he no longer has a grasp on reality. Infidelity and extramarital affairs often live on the edge of delusions and illusions of what life is actually like.

And so, when talking to your spouse, s/he in his/her convictions may present an entirely different view of what’s happening. And, s/he does so in a manner that is utterly and totally convincing, because s/he truly believes his/her perception to be the truth.

You may hear such phrases as.. “We’re just friends, I’m not doing anything wrong, what are you talking about?” or, “You’re jumping to conclusions.”

Or, his/her actions are such that they convey that nothing is wrong. Business as usual. By looking at the cover of the book you would never guess a tragedy is unfolding. And s/he has no idea that the tragedy is unfolding as well.

And, to the extreme, you may hear from your cheating husband or wife, “I’m in love, aren’t you happy for me that I finally found it?”, or, “I deserve this – I’ve given so much, now it’s my time.” This is stated with a total disregard for your feelings or the impact those words have on you.

Your inner life, your esteem, your “groundedness” is thrown into chaos because you can’t believe this is happening.

Afraid of the future.

And, you are afraid. Afraid you have lost it! Afraid you no longer have a compass that guides you. Afraid of the future and how you might manage it, since you’ve seemingly lost your bearings.

You then begin the process of putting together an inner world that gives some comfort. But, you are on your own. And, you make assumptions, not sure if those assumptions are valid.