Navigating Heartbreak: 7 Essential Tips for Recovering from a Romantic Breakup”
How to get over a breakup? A romantic separation is part of one of the bereavements that we often observe during life. It is part of sentimental mourning.
Dealing with the end of a romantic relationship can be challenging, akin to mourning a loss. Each person’s journey through this emotional process is unique, but there are universal tips to help cope and eventually heal.
Here are the signs that should alert you and constitute the picture of romantic depression:
- Sleep disorders with restless sleep.
- A significant loss of appetite and weight.
- Painful, constant, chronic sadness that lasts all the time.
- Very frequent crying.
- Asthenia (weakness, lack of energy and strength, loss of strength).
- Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure).
- A drop in self-esteem, a devaluation of oneself.
- Dark thoughts.
Here are 7 tips on How to get over a breakup?
Tip #1: Learn tomanage the emotional rollercoaster
A breakup often triggers intense emotions. Understand that this emotional rollercoaster is a normal part of the grieving process. To manage anger or frustration, consider engaging in activities like sports or reconnecting with loved ones. Talking about your feelings is crucial, whether with friends, family, or through online forums.
If you feel anger
You probably also feel frustration. In this case, there is something to try, trying to function differently. Indeed, being frustrated is generally linked to the feeling of blockage, the feeling of being stuck. You therefore need to imagine other solutions.
This could involve, for example, resuming a sporting activity that you had abandoned during your relationship or reconnecting with loved ones you had lost touch with in recent years.
If you experience fear
Then it expresses a need for reassurance, and to respond to it you must address the worry that corresponds to it. For this, a first effective solution is to talk, to open up, to confide about the breakup.
Get closer to trusted people around you, don’t keep what you feel to yourself, especially in cases of shame and guilt.
Now, if it seems impossible for you to talk about your painful breakup with your family, for example, there are other ways. You will find forums or private online groups dealing with the topic of emotional bereavement. You will be able to do so freely and anonymously.
The advantage of these spaces is to share experiences, experiences and to multiply resources in addition to those you already have within you. Sometimes, confronting life stories allows you to take a step back from your own journey, thus facilitating the work of grieving the relationship.
Finally, if you have been left, the breakup can be very difficult to cope with and withdrawal from love can be complicated.
To help you, do not hesitate to remove from your sight anything that reminds you of your ex: photos, personal belongings, etc. If you think it is necessary for your healing, you also have the option of cutting off all contact, particularly on social networks.
Good to know:
Three states constantly recur after a breakup:
- Sadness.
- Anger.
- The fear.
Their affects are completely normal, they are part of the process of grieving the relationship and you can act on them by implementing the action associated with the emotion.
Tip #2: Deal with sadness by taking care of yourself
The sadness that grips you following your romantic separation is very often intense and painful. Grief, nostalgia, depression… all this is normal and constitutes one of the phases of mourning linked to a separation.
Sadness following a breakup can be overwhelming. To address this, prioritize self-care. Engage in activities you enjoy, like sports or socializing. Taking care of your physical and emotional well-being is vital during this phase. Consider acupuncture, relaxation techniques, or creative outlets like writing or art to express and process your emotions.
Sadness evokes a need for repair. It is therefore imperative to take care of yourself to respond to them and recover from your breakup.
It probably seems impossible to you
So yes, it probably seems impossible to you, even guilt-inducing, but it is important to take the time: go little by little, especially during the days when things seem easier, when you feel like you are doing better.
How to take care of yourself?
It’s about thinking about what you like and what you want to invest in:
Sport: it’s an excellent idea to try to take your mind off your ex and stop thinking about your ex, because in addition to helping you relieve yourself emotionally, recreate a bond with your body and take care of your health. , you will release hormones which will give you peace and well-being.
- The entourage: renew contacts, meet new people, go out, get some fresh air in good company, have drinks in the sun on the terrace, go to the cinema together… there are many solutions to take your mind off things and no longer be sad about your breakup.
At first, you will probably have to force yourself, before it becomes an enjoyable habit again. But little by little, you will regain a taste for maintaining your relationships to communicate, express yourself and laugh at life: it will do you a world of good. - Activities: travel, volunteer, learn a language, discover an instrument, try new activities, cook, launch that project that has been on hold for a long time, read a book in a park… take some time for yourself, enjoy finding this space just for you, which belongs to you, to occupy it in the way that will soothe you the most.
The goal here is to take your mind off things as much as possible to avoid ruminating about your breakup.
Taking care of yourself does not come naturally to everyone, because some people have been able to put aside their desires in favor of those of their spouse or the romantic relationship.
If these proposals seem too concrete and hasty to you at the moment, or even difficult to implement, don’t forget that taking care of yourself also involves satisfying your essential needs: eating well, getting enough sleep, being well surrounded.
Try to answer them as much as possible and, if necessary, seek help from your doctor on certain points, such as sleep, for example in the event of insomnia due to a breakup. You can also try self-hypnosis or implement calming rituals.
Finally, why not try to take care of yourself differently to deal with the sadness linked to the breakup? Acupuncture helps unblock and redirect bodily energies. In cases of grief, it is the lungs that are impacted. Acupuncture will therefore explore pressure points in this location.
Likewise, relaxation, in the form of guided meditation, or even body massages can soothe you, while bringing you well-being and grounding, reconnecting with yourself to be in the present moment, in order to take a break between memories of the past and images of a future that will never happen.
Good to know:
- Enduring the separation, breaking with your past and trying to accept the breakup causes a lot of pain.
- Be careful not to drown your sorrows in substances like alcohol or drugs.
- Either, they can provide you with temporary relief but will in no way resolve your grief more quickly or effectively. On the contrary, you could even cause an addiction.
Tip #3: Express your suffering through artistic activities
Art can be a powerful medium to express and process pain. Whether through writing, painting, or other creative endeavors, artistic activities offer a cathartic release. Keeping a journal, recording your thoughts, or creating visual art can help distance yourself from the emotional turmoil.
To get over a breakup, artistic activities can help you express your pain. To recover from your breakup and definitively mourn your relationship with your ex, you can also let your suffering be expressed with artistic methods: writing, painting, cultural activities, etc.
Indeed, catharsis through art can be very saving, especially if you are unable to confide in loved ones.
Following on from the first advice, starting to write will provide support for expressing your suffering:
- Words do not judge: the only limits that exist are those that you impose on yourself. By writing down what you feel, you put distance between your affects and yourself. This allows you to take a step back from your romantic separation.
- If writing is not your strong point, you are free to use other media to create your emotion diary: you can film yourself or even record your feelings in an audio format.
A sudden romantic breakup will generate in some people a number of symptoms linked to the psychological trauma experienced by the breakup, which requires, in the same way as bereavement, several stages of romantic mourning to overcome it. Creativity is a tool for sublimating your separation. It will help you overcome trauma.
The creative breath that will arise in you following your work on mourning the emotional relationship will help you to sublimate the loss of your love: painting, theater, song, sculpture, music, photography or dance, everything is possible. It’s up to you to try and test the activities that speak to you. They will constitute the receptacle of your sentimental catharsis.
Above all, it is a question of not internalizing indefinitely what you feel: in the event of impossible romantic mourning, the risk is to see yourself stuck in one of the phases and no longer able to get out of it.
Tip #4: Take a break from your love life
Resist the urge to immediately jump into a new relationship. Taking time to heal and rediscover yourself is essential before considering a new romantic involvement. Avoid reactive decisions and focus on personal growth and well-being.
After a breakup, it can be tempting to quickly want to get back together with someone or to want to win back your ex. However, it is better to take a step back from the situation, recover from your breakup and feel perfectly ready before considering getting back into a romantic relationship.
Reactive decisions
Indeed, the emotions that overwhelm you during a breakup are sometimes difficult to manage. The worry of having lost everything, the fear of no longer being loved, the fear of not being able to start a new life, the heartache that doesn’t seem to want to fade… You therefore risk making bad decisions concerning you.
Indeed, these are reactive decisions, adopted based on what you feel. So, in this case, absolutely avoid throwing yourself body and soul into winning back your former love. You do not seek to treat the deep need related to, for example, your worry, but you try to circumvent or postpone it.
Another common mistake in the event of a sudden breakup is falling into the arms of a new person, quickly.
You did not really choose it, you simply found this solution as a palliative to your problems.
However, grieving the loss of your relationship and the painful separation involves a lot of intimate and individual work that takes time. During bereavement, time is incompressible: it is impossible to speed things up, to want to go faster, or even to skip steps. Comparing yourself is also irrelevant: what will take six months for someone might take a year for you.
So whether it is for your well-being – so as not to interfere with the work of mourning – but also for the respect of this other person with whom you would like to go or simply to not have to face your emotions, try to postpone all this.
Once your mourning work is finished
You will know if you still feel this desire, this desire and if this is the case, it is up to you at that time to contact this person again or not.
Also read: Pathological mourning: 10 signs that you can’t move forward
Tip #5: Make Yourself a Priority
Putting yourself first is crucial in overcoming a breakup. Rebuilding self-confidence and self-esteem may require introspection. Reflect on your values, desires, and life projects. This is an opportunity to rediscover your identity and prioritize your own needs.
By putting yourself first, you will learn to find your place again and this is how you will be able to overcome a breakup. It is important to think of yourself first and bring yourself back to center. A romantic separation symbolizes the breakdown of the couple, that is to say of “we” and not of “I”. If you are the person left, that does not call into question the individual that you are: it is the other who has decided to continue their life story differently. This is also what we must accept.
Self-confidence and self-esteem will be weakened by the breakup
The separation causes a narcissistic wound that it is important to heal. Regaining the confidence and self-esteem you have for yourself is necessary specifically through self-affirmation. Thinking about you is not selfish, it is about respecting you, taking care of you and listening to you, putting you first again.
You may have forgotten who you were deep down
In addition, you may have forgotten who you were deep down, especially if you are coming out of a toxic relationship, with a difficult breakup to deal with as a result. Working on self-love will also be an objective in this case, in particular if you suffer from deficiencies or emotional dependence as a couple: you had probably put all your energy in the service of the other, existing only because this person was here.
It is therefore a question of becoming aware of what is important to you, of what you want now for yourself: questioning yourself about your values, your fundamentals, your life projects, but also about what you desire and what you don’t want it anymore.
Good to know
- You are on the right track in your love loss if:
- Your self-confidence is rebuilt;
- You enjoy spending time with yourself;
- Your thoughts are less and less focused on your ex;
- You hardly talk about your breakup anymore.
Tip #6: Be gentle with yourself
Grieving a relationship is a process that takes time. Be patient with yourself and allow the emotional journey to unfold naturally. Accept and embrace the stages of grief, and seek professional help if prolonged sadness or depressive symptoms persist.
Be kind to yourself. Be kind and give time to time. You have to accept that you are unwell and that your body, mind and heart are numb.
You are going through a whole psychic process
Don’t blame yourself for this and welcome all the states that pass through you without trying to argue. The more you admit your emotions and especially your sadness, the more you will progress in your work of mourning for love.
Be aware that you are going through a whole psychic process of emotional restoration, with stages that will be harder to go through than others and which may take some time.
You will progress little by little, and of course, you will come out of this emotional mourning without any doubt; by being grown up and even more in tune with yourself.
Tip #7: Watch for love depression
While feeling sadness is normal, persistent depressive symptoms require attention. Watch for signs such as sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and chronic sadness. Seek professional help if these symptoms become overwhelming, as it may indicate a deeper emotional struggle.
You think about what you didn’t do, about what you could have been in a few months, you cry, you want to be alone… The depressive phase is a normal and healthy stage, constitutive of each mourning process. , however it should not last.
When this persists for too long and the symptoms become more and more present, accompanied by ruminations anchored in you, it is important to consult for help. Indeed, depression is an illness and you cannot cure it alone.
Conclusion: Navigating a breakup is a personal journey toward self-reconstruction. By focusing on emotional well-being, self-care, and seeking support when needed, individuals can move through the grieving process and emerge stronger on the other side.
Quiz: How to Get Over a Breakup
A romantic depression tinges the sentimental mourning of a psychiatric disorder, and in this case we speak of pathological mourning. If this depressive state sets in, you run the risk of being more vulnerable to addiction to alcohol, drugs or eating lots of sugary foods to silence your emotions.
What stage of my grief am I at?
Do you feel like you’re not moving forward with the loss of your relationship and your breakup still weighs on you?
Take the test now!
Quiz: How to Get Over a Breakup
Please answer the following questions to assess your current emotional state and provide tailored advice on overcoming a breakup:
How long were you in the relationship?
(a) Less than 6 months (1 rating)
(b) 6 months to 2 years (2 ratings)
(c) 2 years or more (3 ratings)
How would you describe the nature of the breakup?
(a) Amicable and mutually agreed upon (1 rating)
(b) Difficult but with some closure (2 ratings)
(c) Extremely painful and unresolved (3 ratings)
How often do you think about your ex-partner?
(a) Occasionally, without significant emotional impact (1 rating)
(b) Frequently, with lingering sadness or anger (2 ratings)
(c) Constantly, with an inability to move on (3 ratings)
To what extent has your breakup affected your daily life?
(a) Little to no impact on daily routine or activities (1 rating)
(b) Some disruptions to sleep, appetite, or social interactions (2 ratings)
(c) Significant impairment in daily functioning and emotional well-being (3 ratings)
Do you feel the need to seek professional help to cope with the breakup?
(a) No, I can manage my emotions and move on independently (1 rating)
(b) I could benefit from occasional counseling or support groups (2 ratings)
(c) Yes, I feel overwhelmed and need professional guidance (3 ratings)
Rating Your Breakup Difficulty
Based on your responses, we can assign a rating to the difficulty of overcoming your breakup:
1-3: The breakup may be relatively easy to navigate, and you may be able to heal with time and self-care.
4-6: The breakup may require more effort and support to overcome. Seeking guidance from friends, family, or a therapist can be beneficial.
7-10: The breakup may be particularly challenging and may require professional intervention to address underlying emotional issues and develop coping strategies.
Solutions Tailored to Your Breakup Rating
Here are some solutions tailored to your breakup rating:
Rating 1-5: The breakup may be relatively easy to navigate, and you may be able to heal with time and self-care.
If you’ve been in a relationship for a short time or if the breakup was amicable, getting over it may not be too difficult. Simply allow yourself to grieve the loss of the relationship and give yourself time to heal. Focus on yourself and your own needs, and don’t rush into a new relationship.
Practice self-compassion: Acknowledge your emotions without judgment and allow yourself time to grieve the loss of the relationship.
Engage in activities you enjoy: Rekindle hobbies, connect with friends, and pursue activities that bring you joy and fulfillment.
Prioritize self-care: Maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, and engaging in regular physical activity.
Rating 6-10: The breakup may require more effort and support to overcome. Seeking guidance from friends, family, or a therapist can be beneficial.
If you’ve been in a relationship for a longer period of time or if the breakup was more difficult, getting over it may be more challenging. However, it is still possible to move on with time and effort. Talk to someone you trust, get involved in activities you enjoy, and take care of yourself physically and emotionally.
Seek emotional support: Talk to trusted friends, family members, or a therapist to process your emotions and gain perspective.
Consider journaling: Write down your thoughts and feelings to gain clarity and identify patterns in your emotional responses.
Engage in mindfulness practices: Meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises can help reduce stress and promote emotional well-being.
Rating 11-15: The breakup may be particularly challenging and may require professional intervention to address underlying emotional issues and develop coping strategies.
If you’ve been in a very long-term relationship or if the breakup was particularly painful, getting over it may be extremely difficult. It may take years to fully heal, and you may never completely forget about your ex. However, you can learn to live with the pain and move on with your life. Seek professional help if you need it, and be patient with yourself as you heal.
Seek professional help: Consider therapy or counseling to address underlying emotional issues and develop personalized coping strategies.
Join support groups: Connect with others who have experienced similar breakups to share experiences and gain support.
Practice self-acceptance: Acknowledge that healing takes time and be patient with yourself as you navigate this challenging period.
Remember, getting over a breakup is a personal journey, and there is no right or wrong way to heal. Be kind to yourself, seek support when needed, and allow yourself the time and space necessary to move on.
To remember
Whether it’s a first romantic breakup or the end of a long love story that ends suddenly, grieving a relationship is a personal journey towards self-reconstruction.
Even if certain reflexes are strong, such as wanting to forget the other person or resuming an affair quickly, it is essential to focus your grieving work on the emotions felt and your well-being.
Experiencing a separation when you are suddenly left can be traumatic. In this case, consulting a psychotherapist will prove lifesaving.
Remember, getting over a breakup is a personal journey, and there is no right or wrong way to heal. Be kind to yourself, seek support when needed, and allow yourself the time and space necessary to move on.
Photo credit: Claudio_Scott via Pixabay
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