« Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. » – Helen Keller
Breakups are associated with a flood of emotions, like anger, sadness, guilt, hurt, loneliness, etc. It may also leave us with a bruised self-image. Overcoming a break-up can be challenging as a result of complicated thoughts, difficult feelings, and a lack of emotional support. It can be extremely taxing to deal with it when there is no logical explanation behind the breakup. It may further lead to emotional pain which affects us physiologically as well, consequentially we are gradually directed towards an imbalanced life and distressed emotional state.
Therefore, it is essential to deal with a breakup.
It is natural to struggle with difficult emotions but there are certain healthy coping behaviors and activities to deal with a breakup. Seeking support from friends and family, starting new hobbies, meditating, perhaps meeting new people, etc. can help us to distract and fix ourselves instantly, but it doesn’t always resolve the emotional wound and feelings of emptiness. In such a case, a psychologist or a counselor can guide us to explore our emotions, how to deal with them, and live a better and fulfilled life.
Here are some tips to survive a breakup:
1. Healthy Grieving – Acknowledging our emotions and expressing them, accepting the loss, keeping a journal, maintaining healthy eating and sleeping patterns, and discovering our own set of self-care activities.
2. Validating our feelings – Breakups can make navigating through our feelings and emotions tough. Here it becomes crucial to be aware of what we are feeling and experience it, be it a positive emotion like relief or a negative one like anger or resentment. Accepting our emotions becomes important for us to heal.
3. Self-care – The emotional overload could be exhausting both mentally and physically. To heal and survive a break up it is important to engage in activities that bring us joy and happiness, to process our feelings, reduce negative emotions and allow ourselves to unwind from the emotional and physical exhaustion.
4. Journal Prompts – Journaling is one of the most meaningful ways to bring about positive changes and uncover our feelings. Journal prompts are certain questions that allow us to explore and process our feelings, for example, what are the positive aspects of the breakup, what did I learn from the relationship, list 5 things you are grateful for, etc.
Engaging in these activities ensures mental well-being and promotes emotional catharsis, which is effective in dealing with a breakup.
Importance of Professional Counseling: A friend or family member may listen to you, but they aren’t professionally, technically qualified or experienced to offer you professional advice. If you wish you can contact us at MindTribe to receive help from our team of expert psychologists.
About MindTribe.in.
MindTribe Founder Dr. Prerna Kohli, India’s eminent psychologist, established the company to leverage the strength of the online to make counseling affordable and accessible to everyone. MindTribe provides counseling, workshops, support groups, forums, and eLearning.
About the Author.
Anshika Singh is a counselor at MindTribe.in. You can learn more about her by clicking here
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MindTribe.in, the Founders, or management team.
Acknowledgement: All images used are open source and from Unsplash.