What can you do to comfort yourself when dealing with the breakup of a relationship? Almost everyone has to deal with breaking up at one time or another, and it is never easy. Many times when we break up, we lose our best friend – in fact, sometimes it’s a friendship rather than a romantic relationship that ends resulting in our broken heart. The question is, how can you heal your broken heart as quickly as possible?
Though it may be difficult, the key to mending your broken heart is to actively work on alleviating your pain rather than being passive about your feelings. The more you work on your healing, the faster you can get to the root cause of your discomfort, and heal your emotional wounds. However, it is important to note that no matter what you do, it will take time to recover from heartbreak – romantic or otherwise.
Tell Loved Ones What’s Going On
First and perhaps most importantly, don’t isolate yourself. Make the announcement to family and friends that you have broken up and let them know that you need support and love. It is critical to have a network of support to help ease your breakup pain.
Respect the Process
Dealing with a breakup can feel similar to going through the grieving process after someone has passed away. You’re mourning the death of a relationship, after all. Consider the stages of grief: denial, anger, acceptance. You will get there, but it takes time and lots of self-love along the way.
Don’t Get Stuck in Your Head
Some people never get over the loss of a significant other – at least not completely. There may be moments you can’t get your ex out of your mind, but it’s important that you not compare your current relationships to those from your past. Rehashing the past won’t help you, and if you allow yourself to stay stuck there, you may want to consider counseling to move on from the mental and emotional pain.
Purge Your Past
A lot of people are quite resistant to this, but it may be helpful to get rid of the things that remind you of your old relationship. Things like love notes, gifts, and even pictures can prolong our pain. This is particularly true if you catch yourself fawning over these momentos often. Let your picture frames, stuffed animals, and random gifts go – whether you choose to give them to a thrift store or just throw them away – purging them from your living space will help you move on.
Journal Your Feelings in Lieu Of Posting to Social Media
Write your feelings all over your journal, but for your mental health, and the mental health of your ex (friend or significant other), don’t take to social media to share your feelings. You’ll be glad you didn’t make your thoughts public in those moments of extreme pain. Simply share everything you’re feeling to the pages of a notebook or a word processing document. It may help you release these feelings to delete the words after you release them. Some people find printing and then subsequently burning the pages to be therapeutic as well. Please use caution if you choose to burn the pages of your journal.
Take care of your mental and emotional health, and in the event you are struggling to move past the heartbreak, seek out the help of a mental health professional before you let the pain go too far.
Hammond Psychology and Associates is the go-to resource for residents seeking psychological evaluations from a licensed psychologist in the Tampa Bay area. Click here to learn more about our Psychological Testing services in our Brandon location.