How long heartbreak lasts. After six weeks most people start to adjust to life without their ex, says Durvasula. “It could be a lot quicker, but typically it's not much longer,” she says. “I tell my clients all the time: Give everything six weeks before you think you are not coping well.”
Some just simply take longer than others. If you're taking longer to get over it than you have in past breakups, start by being kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up for not moving on faster. However, if you're still heartbroken after a year or two, it may be time to start taking some more proactive steps.
After a breakup, it takes about six weeks to stop crying. If you're still crying over a breakup and it's been a couple years, that's OK, too. This six-week thing is just an average and I still shed a tear or two over my first love... and I was 22 when that ended.
“If the heartbreak is so intense that after two or so weeks we don't feel like working or going to school, we have lost interest in life around us, we feel that we literally can't go on or don't want to go on with life, then seeing a professional is essential,” he tells Bustle.
“I try and go by the 6-month rule, which says that for most of us to fully heal, it usually takes around 6 months for every year we are with someone,” Peacock says. For example: If you were with someone for 1 year, it would take 6 months to get over the breakup.
They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, according to Mental-Health-Matters. These are the natural ways for your heart to heal.
Three-Month Rule: After a Break-Up
Basically, after a break-up, the three-month rule is a rule that says you and your ex are both given 3 months before entering the dating scene again. Just waiting it out, and mourning that your relationship ended. Just go on with your individual separate lives and see what happens.
In terms of physical pain, women averaged 4.21 versus men's 3.75. While breakups hit women the hardest emotionally and physically, women tend to recover more fully and come out emotionally stronger. Men, on the other hand, never full recover -- they simply move on.
Staying silent can also help you feel empowered. You're taking charge and showing your ex that you're capable of and willing to live life without them. Whether you're the one who was hurt or the one who ended it, cutting off communication after a breakup puts you in control.
Feeling low after a breakup is natural. Even if you decided to end things, you may still experience grief and may need some time adjusting to this change. But grieving is not the same as having depression. Grief or sadness will decrease with time, while untreated depression may persist.
Luckily, heartbreak doesn't last forever. Your heart will eventually mend, and you will find love again. To help you reach the point where you can date and love again after experiencing a broken heart, we spoke to two sex and relationship experts: Todd Baratz, LMHC and Rachel Wright, MA, LMFT.
There's a scientific reason heartbreak hurts so much: You actually go through withdrawal-like symptoms after a breakup because the feel-good hormones you got from your partner are suddenly gone, says Elle Huerta, founder of Mend, an app and online community designed to help people post-breakup.
According to research published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, it takes 11 weeks to feel better after a relationship ends. But a separate study found it takes closer to 18 months to heal from the end of a marriage. In reality, heartbreak is a grieving process - and it looks completely different for everyone.
The most common signs and symptoms of broken heart syndrome are angina (chest pain) and shortness of breath. You can experience these things even if you have no history of heart disease. Arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) or cardiogenic shock also may occur with broken heart syndrome.
The death of a future you imagined for yourself with your ex, one that you probably imagined together, can be one of the most difficult things to come to terms with after a break-up. It makes your present that much harder to get through (see above). It's OK to mourn and grieve the loss of that future.
Stage 1: Shock
This stage is particularly pertinent if you were the one who was broken up with and if you didn't see it coming. The shock of a breakup is all about pain, disorganization, and confusion, Gullick tells mbg. You may try to rationalize it and feel an immense need to understand what went wrong.
Do men, particularly heterosexual men, experience something similar when they go through a breakup? Several studies—both large and small—suggest they have a tougher time than women do when a romantic relationship ends.
While 30 days is a good rule of thumb, everybody is different. Some people move on really fast after a breakup, while other people take a long time. If 30 days pass and you still aren't ready, it's totally okay to extend your period of no contact.
Studies have shown that relationships generally end within 3 to 5 months from the day they begin.
Instead, I'm talking about the trend known as the three-month itch, which occurs when a couple have been dating for about three months and suddenly one decides that they either want to exit the relationship, or morph things from casual to commitment.
“Typically, the person who initiated the breakup is way ahead in the process than their partner,” as they've spent months, sometimes years, getting their emotional and logistical ducks in a row before they break the news.