Breakups are hard, whether you were with someone for a month, a year, or a decade. And even though you feel relieved after letting someone go, there’s still a tiny pinch in your heart that hurts from time to time. That is okay.
Many of us can’t handle breakups smoothly. It even affects our daily lives, keeping us worried and constantly thinking about what could have been. If this is you, it’s time to start taking care of yourself because if you don’t, your mental health will suffer, which will eventually affect your entire well-being.
Here are some tips to stay mentally healthy after a breakup:
Stay Away From Social Media
While social media helps us stay connected with our loved ones, it depicts unrealistic ideas about love and relationships. That happy couple you see on your timeline isn’t always happy, and the blooming relationship of your boss with his new girlfriend will become dull at some point. Seeing these things while trying to get over a heartbreak will only trigger your emotions, so try to avoid using social media until you’re ready.
If it’s going to make you feel better, cut your connections with your ex, including his friends and family. It may sound bitter, but you’re only doing this so that you won’t accidentally see his face that will bring back memories.
Embrace Your Social Life
Your life in social media and in-person are different. While it’s advisable to take a break from Facebook and Instagram, experts suggest finding new ways to connect with the people you love most. Hang out with your friends, go to parties, visit your grandparents, keeping in touch with the dear ones in your life will make it easier for you to move on. These people can make you feel better about yourself regardless of your heartache.
Keep Yourself Busy
Take all the time you need to cry your heart out and release your pain. But once you’re done, it’s time to move forward and start your life without your ex. Keep yourself busy by taking on a new hobby or volunteering at a hospice care center, a bereavement program facility, a homeless shelter, or charity events. These kinds of distractions will help you forget about your ex as you find a renewed meaning in life.
You can also take this opportunity to start a new hobby. Enroll in art classes and learn how to bake or use a musical instrument. Whatever activity you find comforting, do it. Over time, your broken heart will mend on its own, and you’ll be happy once again.
Focus on Your Health
Whether we like it or not, being in love can make us gain weight. This isn’t a myth, and even science believes this. So what is the best thing to do after a breakup? Not stress eating, but rather focus on improving your fitness and health. Consult a professional about your plan to get back in shape, physically and mentally.
List down your fitness goals and achieve them one by one as you become better every single day. Exercising is one of the best ways to relieve stress and stay healthy. Plus, going to the gym will give you a chance to meet new friends with healthy habits.
Practice Self-Care
When it comes to overcoming painful breakups, most of the common ideas are quite unhealthy. Binge eating, getting wasted every night, and engaging in dangerous behaviors that put you at risk. That said, you need to learn to draw the line, so you don’t go beyond your limits. Let’s be blunt, we all do some questionable things when we’re not okay, and that is often a natural reaction when you’re hurting. But these activities should just be a “short” phase of the heartbreak. They should be a temporary relief as you find your way back to healthy living.
Once you’re done getting drunk or doing risky things, you need to pull yourself together and practice healthy self-care habits. These habits may include regular exercise, reading a book, pampering yourself at the spa, or taking care of your skin. It may also involve cooking healthy meals instead of eating take-out. As long as the act is about making you feel better in a good way, then you are on the right track.
We all go overcome heartbreaks in different ways. Some prefer to stay inside their room for a few days to cry, while others prefer to go outside not to feel sad. Whatever your preference is, always make sure that you do what’s best for your mental health. Breakups happen. People come and go, but that does not mean that you have to neglect yourself. On the contrary, a breakup is an opportunity to discover more about yourself.
