How Can I Manage Grief After a Breakup?

Breakups are hard for everyone. Letting go of someone you once cared for and adjusting your life going forward can be a difficult time. It can be essential to have some goals or plans for managing grief after a breakup. By defining your path forward, you can give yourself something to focus on while you process your feelings.

Why Are Breakups So Hard?

People who have recently gone through a breakup often report mental health challenges such as psychological distress and decreased life satisfaction. Commonly, you might experience depression or anxiety and strongly feel the loss in your daily life. These are all very normal feelings, as it is important to be aware of what you have lost so that you can fully embrace your emotions and allow yourself to grieve properly.

When you are committed to another person, they become your primary source of love, providing a great deal of comfort and security in your life. They are the person that you have turned to when you have exciting news to share or difficult experiences to get through. Your significant other has helped provide stability in your life. In other words, it is okay to be sad and upset when you have to adjust to the loss of their presence in your life.

What Does Grief After a Breakup Look Like?

The grieving process is going to look different for everyone. You are a unique person and your relationship was an individual experience for you. Your grieving process is also going to be unique and personal. However, there are some experiences that people go through in grief after a breakup that you might find familiar.

Coping with grief can sometimes feel the same whether you are dealing with the death of a loved one or simply the loss of them in your life. The grieving process follows similar patterns for a lot of people, often known as the stages of grief. These stages include:

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

Some of these stages may apply to you and some may not, but being aware of the stages may help you navigate through the uncomfortable process of a breakup.

Managing Grief After a Breakup

The best way to handle your grief after a breakup is to give yourself time and space to heal. You should honor your feelings and be aware of them so that you can process them in a healthy way. Alter Wellness Care has some tips to help you heal and restore your mental health resiliency:

Practice Self-Care

Taking time for yourself is important after a breakup. Make sure that you are eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, and adding some physical movement to your daily routine. You can also do something that helps you feel relaxed, like taking a walk or meditating. Anything that you can do to take care of yourself and help you find joy is self-care.

Connect With Friends and Family

When we are hurting, it can be beneficial to connect with special people in your life. Making plans to spend time with the people closest to you can help you boost your mood. In addition, having their support can help you get through your grief more easily.

Keep Your Routine Full

Sometimes the loss of a relationship can leave you with downtime in your routine. Try to replace activities that involved your significant other with new activities that bring you happiness. You could start a new hobby, find volunteer opportunities, or participate in new activities.

Honor Your Feelings

Whatever you are feeling as you move on from a breakup, your feelings are valid. It is best to not avoid feeling negative emotions because they are uncomfortable. Give yourself the time and space to really process them. You can try mindfulness activities like journaling or meditating to help you do this.

When to Seek Extra Support

Sometimes grief can start to affect our mental health in serious ways. If you feel like your grief after a breakup is starting to become more than you can handle by yourself, it can be incredibly helpful to seek extra support. Sometimes you can confide in a close friend, but other times you might need additional support from a mental health professional.

There are three mental health warning signs that may signal that it is time to seek professional help:

1. Finding yourself using alcohol or drugs excessively in order to cope with your grief
2. Experiencing significant difficulty getting enough sleep, eating, or fulfilling your daily obligations
3. Feeling consistently overwhelmed by negative emotions that you can’t find relief from

Your mental health is extremely important to your overall health and wellness. Working with a mental health professional, like the compassionate team at Alter Wellness Care, can be crucial to keeping you on track. We can help you develop skills to help you process grief after a breakup and become stronger. Prioritizing your mental health can be one of the best decisions you can make for yourself.

Managing grief after a breakup should be a mindful process that allows you the time and space you need to heal. You should always honor yourself and your feelings while also finding healthy coping skills to help you move on. At Alter Wellness Care, we understand that each person will grieve the loss of a relationship differently. Our goal is to support you in developing the tools you need to manage your grief successfully and become more resilient through the process. For more information about how Alter Wellness Care can support you in achieving your goals after a breakup, call us at (866) 311-3510 today. Our compassionate team will help you feel respected and empowered every step of the way.