A dream about cheating has left you feeling all distressed and anxious? Let’s understand the varied interpretations of dreams about cheating.
Did You Know?
Both, pregnant women and their partners are reported to have a high number of cheating dreams. The woman dreams of her partner cheating on her because she is not confident about her changing body and fears her partner does not find her attractive; and the partner dreams of being cheated on as a symbolic representation of the woman’s love being channeled only to the baby.
When we’re awake, it is our conscious that is at play―understanding, processing, reacting; and when we are asleep, we make way for the subconscious and the unconscious segments of our mind to take over. It is said that our conscious being represents only a tip of the iceberg that is our psyche, and that our mind is actually represented through our subconscious. When we are asleep, we allow our subconscious to bring to the fore all those incidents, feelings, and impulses that were either repressed, or their significance was not registered. Which is why, even though dreams are often dismissed as being silly or preposterous, there are times when these same dreams hit a nerve and bring to the fore certain scenarios that make us stop and take notice―like, death or an accident.
And it is probably on the same lines that dreams about cheating feature under. The gut-wrenching feeling of being cheated upon by a significant other, albeit in a dream, can lead to some serious anguish and distress. The reverse of which is also equally disturbing―you cheating on someone. Let’s leave our emotions aside for a minute and ask, could dreams about cheating mean that our subconscious is trying to tell us something? And if so, what is it? In this following PsycholoGenie article, we will look into the varied interpretations of what cheating on your partner means.
Dreams about Being Cheated Upon
For most, waking up from a dream where their partner has been cheating on them is not the most mundane of incidents that can be simply brushed off and the day continued as normal. For most, it will demand at least a second thought, a little worrying, and a whole lot of thanking that it was ‘just a dream’; while for others, it will set them off in the direction of hashing and rehashing the dream and piecing together the fragments to understand exactly why it happened and what it represents. The interpretation of these dreams has been explained below.
A MISREPRESENTATION OF STIMULI
Sometimes, the dreams about being cheated on (or even you cheating on someone) could only be a misrepresentation of stimuli by the mind. It could be as simple as you having watched a TV show with cheating as the main theme, and the mind that is constantly absorbing things and storing them in the subconscious will manifest these to include you as the main characters. For example, have you ever had an experience where you’ve played with your niece or nephew in the eve and dreamed of babies at night? It’s exactly like that.
The thoughts that are strongest in our minds will be replayed by the subconscious. Sometimes, dreams about cheating have nothing to do with our love lives, but could rather be a representation of some other area in our life, for example, maybe you’ve cheated in a test at school, or have not really put in that many hours at work. So the emotion that is strongest in your mind is replayed by the subconscious through some other channel.
BEING CHEATED ON AGAIN
If you’ve ever been cheated on (not necessarily by your current partner), there are chances that your subconscious is replaying those incidents.
Repressed memories of the hurt and anguish will find their way back from your subconscious to your conscious whenever it finds a trigger. For example, maybe you’ve had a tiff with your partner and the negativity in the relationship has been reigning high, this negativity will somehow get connected with all those repressed feelings and make way through this dream. So, you having a tiff with your partner reminds you of a time and hurt that being cheated on brought with itself and you fear that the same thing will repeat itself.
FEAR OF ABANDONMENT
Cheating on someone essentially means abandoning them. If there has ever been a time where you’ve faced abandonment from an important figure in your life, where they have not been there for you when you needed them, then dreaming about a spouse or a partner cheating also translates to the same. You fear that your partner will not be a part of your future and that they will abandon you, it might not be by cheating on you with someone else, but cheating on you by leaving you alone.
FEELINGS OF INSECURITY
Many times, dreams about cheating are an indication of your insecurities and the fear of being replaced. It might be as direct as stemming out of jealousy (if your partner has been working with an attractive colleague of the opposite sex) or maybe even as indirect as your partner taking up some new activity like meeting with friends―essentially, the time that he/she would otherwise spend with you. The fear of being replaced is therefore reigning prime and causing dreams about being cheated on.
ISSUES IN THE RELATIONSHIP
Sometimes, an intense dream which has cheating involved at its base is an indication of certain relationship issues. It could be as simple as the relationship entering a rut, financial issues and ensuing fights thereon, or trust issues that are brought on by indiscretions of the past. Hence, cheating is not directly related to the physical act of cheating, but more as an indication that you’re not in a place where you’re feeling as connected to your partner.
LOW SELF-ESTEEM
When a person is dealing with low self-esteem and a poor self-image, seemingly simple and innocent incidents may be viewed in the most biased manner.
Due to the poor self-image, any small misunderstanding or argument gives rise to the feelings of not being good enough for the partner, or that there is no reason why the partner should stay on in the relationship, or that you’re not matching up to the expectations of the partner, and therefore you believe that your partner will cheat on you with someone who fulfills all these criteria―all of which is manifested through your dreams.
WARNING SIGNS
Then again, our subconscious is capable of truly genius things. So, sometimes, just sometimes, dreams about a boyfriend cheating, or a girlfriend cheating could very well be a warning sign of the same. Our conscious mind is faced with several impulses that come and go, and we do not register their significance, or maybe we fail to recognize them because it is too painful for us to acknowledge. However, our subconscious mulls over it and brings to us clues that we may have missed.
NOTE:
Before panicking that your partner is cheating on you, check for any other accompanying signs as well.
When You’re the Cheater
Just as a dream about being cheated on can lead to a lot of distress, dreaming about cheating on someone is not a very fun prospect either, and could send people off into a tizzy of nervousness, especially because they love their partner and have never even thought of cheating. So what do dreams about cheating on someone mean? Why are these coming about? Let us understand the same in the following section.
SPENDING TIME AWAY
Spending time away in the sense that, there might be commitments at the workplace that might be keeping you away and you might be spending a lot of time at work which you would have otherwise spent with your partner. This guilt of not spending enough time with your partner will manifest in the manner that you’re ‘cheating’ and not giving your partner the time that would have otherwise had their name written all over it.
IN THE COMPANY OF ANOTHER
There might have been times when you will have spent a lot of time with a person of the opposite sex, either for work or a family occasion and you will have gotten to know them really well.
Having spent so much time with them, their mannerisms and behavior will be playing in your mind, adding to that, if you’ve been spending lesser time with your partner, then a dream about you cheating could mean that you are missing your partner or that the memories of the new person have cluttered your subconscious because everything about the other person is new.
ROUTINE OF A RELATIONSHIP
Sometimes, a mundane lifestyle sets in that is devoid of any excitement or surprises, so the once-enthusiastic partner may start to seem dull and boring. This boredom that comes about because of the rut of life, and the want for something exciting, will weave for itself dreams of cheating on your partner. These only represent your craving for some new activity and the revival of the same old enthusiasm as far as your partner is concerned.
We tend to forget that the subconscious mind is registering everything that happens around us, so when there are dreams about cheating making way, it could either be a harmless representation of the varied stimuli, or it could be due to some deeper issues. Either which way, these instances could be taken as the ideal time to analyze your relationship and resolve any issues that might be causing a disturbance in your relationship.
