An emotional affair has evolved if you believe that a person's emotional energy is limited and your spouse is exchanging intimate thoughts and feelings with someone else. Much of the grief and anguish that results from an emotional affair is caused by deception, lying, and emotions of betrayal. The other party to an emotional affair believes that they are having a real relationship with their partner until it ends badly. Emotional affairs can damage relationships by causing resentment and distrust between partners. Even after an emotional affair ends, the effects can linger for years. It can be difficult or impossible to recover from the pain of an emotional affair. In order to heal from this type of injury, there must be trust and respect among partners. People who have emotional affairs often say that they don't feel like they're cheating on their spouses. This is because emotional affairs lack any physical involvement. An emotional affair is when one partner engages in inappropriate interactions with another who is affecting them emotionally. This can include having fantasies about or indulging in activities with others than your mate. The term "emotional affair" is used rather than sexual affair because sexual relations with others does not necessarily involve love or even like. An emotional attachment can develop from such experiences however. People have emotional affairs for many different reasons. Some people simply want to seek out certain feelings that they think their spouses cannot give them.