Breaking up is horrible. Not only are you dealing with the complicated emotions of parting ways with someone you once loved more than anyone, you’re mourning the future you once pictured together and dealing with the messy logistics of disentangling your lives — both online and off.
When you’re in the thick of heartbreak, it can feel like there’s no exit in sight. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve searched “how to get over a breakup” while nursing a broken heart. So, I decided to dig deep and speak to dating experts and therapists to figure out how to move on after the end of a relationship.
The psychology of a breakup
Relationship therapist Alexis Friedlander tells Mashable that an important step in moving forward after a breakup is understanding what’s happening on a psychological and even neurological level. “When you break up with someone, you’re not only letting go of the relationship itself, you’re also grieving the future you imagined with them, and even a part of yourself,” he says. “Psychologists call this Self-Expansion Theory: in relationships, our identities expand into our partners, so separation feels like losing a piece of who we are.”
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