Is flirting cheating?
DEIDRE SAYS: If youre in a relationship and witness - or hear that - your partner has been flirting with someone else, it can be very painful and make you feel jealous or insecure. Its tricky to define exactly what flirting is. 1 Whatever your worry, youre not alone - the Dear Deidre team will be able to help  Individual people flirt in different ways - and what some people call flirting, others see as normal friendliness or interest. In general, its behaving as though youre sexually attracted to someone, in a playful way. Flirting can include:  Making prolonged eye contact  Throwing brief glances in someones direction, then looking away  Fiddling with your hair, clothes or glasses  Being tactile e.g. Its complicated. Flirting can be a benign behaviour that isnt intended to lead anywhere. Or it could be a form of seduction that is intended to lead to an affair. Some people are naturally flirtatious, flirting with everybody, without meaning anything. Curiously, not everyone notices that theyre being flirted with. They may mistake flirting for friendliness - or vice versa. It becomes a problem when it upsets you, generally because you believe your partner has intentions to be unfaithful. Maybe theyve cheated before. Or maybe youre having problems in your relationship and youre worried theyre looking for a way out. If your partner flirts in front of you, it can feel like theyre being disrespectful, or that theyre more interested in another person than in you. HOW TO DEAL WITH A FLIRTATIOUS PARTNER:  Talk to your partner and tell them how you feel. You can ask them to tone down their behaviour. If things dont improve you might need to get some professional relationship counselling from an organisation such as Relate. and Looking after your relationship could help. Whatever your worry, youre not alone. The Dear Deidre team will be able to recommend your best next steps to help get your life back on track. For a support pack and personalised advice, email us at deardeidre@the-sun.co.uk or for a prompt response, message us on Facebook.