
Breakups are never easy. They leave you feeling sad, angry and frustrated. This is especially true when it comes to long-term relationships or even marriage. While many people think a break up will solve the problem, sometimes it only complicates matters more and the two parties end up hurting each other in the process.
Breakups that are not well-planned can be extremely painful and trigger a strong emotional response. This can result in feelings of rejection, fear of being betrayed, uncertainty over the future, or loss of power.
The emotion you feel, along with the severity of the responses, will depend on a variety of aspects, including how long you were with the person, how intense your relationship was, and the circumstances surrounding the breakup, for instance.
This article examines the impact of a break-up on your mental health. It also suggests strategies to help overcome a negative breakup.
The impact of a bad breakup
Breakups can impact mental health in many ways, especially depending on how the breakup occurred. Here are some consequences of a breakup that is not good for your mental well-being.
Stress
The breaking up of relationships, especially when they’re not expected, can trigger the body to trigger an anxiety response caused by a rise of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline.
The hormones put your body into fight or flight mode, a continuous state of alert in which your body is in a state of readiness to defend itself.
Acute or long-term stress can result in mental and physical health problems like anxiety, depression, diabetes, and heart disease, among others.
Depression and grief
Breakups can make us feel as if we’re mourning, as well as feeling depressed. This may be temporary in that it could last for a couple of weeks, or it can last longer and suggest that someone has difficulty getting used to the breakup and perhaps even becoming depressed.
If you may have mental health issues, a breakup can cause more stress and anxiety.
Negative Behaviours and emotions
The impact of a breakup will depend, naturally, on the circumstances and the individual reaction; however, it could cause extreme and unexpected emotions that people aren’t experienced with or managing.
A few people let their feelings guide their actions. For example, they might be withdrawn and isolated from their surroundings, eat too much or eat a small amount when they are unhappy, or not doze too much or fail to maintain their work schedule.
Breakups, particularly bad ones, could require us to discover new methods of dealing with them to ensure that our emotions don’t take over us.
How to get over the Pain of a Breakup
I suggest a few strategies to help you move past the hurt and move on.There are many ways to get over a bad breakup, but if you’re looking for a way that doesn’t involve going out and getting drunk every weekend, then you might want to consider using these tactics.
This is an effective method of getting over your ex without feeling depressed or completely miserable. It’s not always easy to get over the person you loved with all your heart, but it can be done.
- Support: Seek support from trusted family and friends, especially those who have gone through something similar to you. Support from friends and family can mitigate certain negative side effects of breaking up. It could help decrease the amount of time you’re on your own, feeling down. Instead, you’ll be around people who can provide advice, insight, or methods to develop or enhance positive emotions amid an ocean of negative emotions.
- Positively frame the issue as follows: Breakups are often painful, and it can be difficult to imagine the future without this discomfort. However, it can be helpful to acknowledge that you’ll eventually be feeling better. If you’re in a good state of mind, it’s important to consider how you’ve grown from your relationship and think of the breakup as an opportunity to learn.
- Maintain a distance from your ex-partner: Strategically give yourself and your ex some distance away from each other.
- Do not avoid emotional turmoil: While it’s not necessary to accept negative emotions every day, you shouldn’t avoid them at all times. Repressing emotions, be it anger and frustration, sadness, grief, could cause physical stress. Becoming aware of your feelings, even in short periods, will aid in processing the emotions and processing them to manage your emotions instead of letting your emotions take over your life.
Ideas and behaviors to avoid
A list of negative habits and patterns you should beware of when coming to terms with a broken relationship:
- Self-blaming or assuming the whole burden of a breakup when it’s not justifiable.
- Don’t ask people around you for emotional assistance for a discussion or have some space from your thoughts.
- Alcohol-based self-medicating by drinking too much or medication other drugs.
- Separating yourself, withdrawing, or avoiding other people.
- Insufficiently taking proper care on your own (e.g., eating less or eating in excess and not prioritizing sleeping, not implementing the basics of self-care.)
- Refraining from dating or keeping an unhealthy outlook about the future of relationships and dating.
- Not being willing to learn about the experiences.
A bad breakup can have a devastating effect on your physical and mental well-being, causing depression, stress, anxiety, grief, and negative feelings and bad behavior.
It is important to connect with relatives and friends to seek advice and help, work through your feelings, and gain insight from your experiences. If you’re not able to overcome that loss in your partner, you may contact an expert in mental health to seek help.
There is no easy way to get over a bad breakup, but it is possible. Now that you’ve read this article and have some helpful tips on your side, hopefully you can start taking the steps necessary to help yourself heal. If you have any questions or would like more information (or just want someone to talk to), please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments box!
—
This post was previously published on medium.com.
***
You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism |
Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box |
The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer |
![]() |
—
Photo credit: Bobby Stevenson on Unsplash
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism
Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box
The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer