All that you need to know about ‘emotional divorce’
After gaslighting, and ghosting, this is the new term in the relationship dictionary and we help you decode it
By definition, divorce is the process of legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body. It involves tedious paperwork, separation of finances and assets. However, the paper work for separation legally is just a formality as it’s preceded by an emotional divorce, which does the actual damage. According to the Internet, emotional divorce can be defined as a psychological defence mechanism employed by partners, who feel that their existing marriage is a threat to their well being. The subjected partner tends to withdraw his/her emotions from the marriage to protect oneself. According to experts, Shivani Misri Sadhoo, psychologist and marriage counsellor and Anika Parashar, therapeutic counsellor, who also have Facebook support group for divorced women, the partner that initiates the emotional divorce, is the ‘walk-away’ spouse and the partner that gets emotionally divorced, is the ‘left-behind’ spouse.
With the help of experts, we decode characteristics of these two types — walk-away and left-behind spouses and provide few pointers to survive an emotional divorce.
WALK-AWAY SPOUSE
Over a period of time, they stop communicating as they get tired of being always the first one to make an effort to speak during problems.
They give a cold and a distant vibe to show that they aren’t interested in the relationship. They won’t say it’s over but will project it.
They prefer to spend time away from home and even give excuses to be outside.
They have an exasperated behaviour towards their spouse and they tend to shut down any efforts by their partner to save the marriage.
Their aim is to fasten the divorce process.
LEFT-BEHIND SPOUSE
They are the ones who have no idea the differences in their marriage are irreconcilable and it’s heading for a breakdown.
They’ve a clingy attitude and look for that last chance to save their marriage.
They feel nervous and anxious and worry about the future of being single again.
In extreme cases, they even have a tendency to stalk or harass their partner.
Their aim is to delay the divorce process.