First of all, here’s what the ever resourceful Wikipedia has to say on the topic of heartbreak / heartache: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_heart
As a romance novelist, I find heartbreak fascinating. It’s a perfect theme to include in a book. Many stories begin with a protagonist whose heart was recently broken, which makes them do things they normally wouldn’t – and snap-bam! they meet their perfect partner. At other times, the heartache might lie in the past and was so intense that it still makes it difficult for the character to warm up to others and date again. This is the case with Nadia, the heroine from my contemporary romance novel “Kaleidoscope of Hopes”.
I want to look a little closer at reasons for, symptoms of and cures for a broken heart:
5 reasons for a broken heart
- unrequited love (my topic for the letter U)
- forbidden love (my topic for the letter F)
- the partner cheated
- a huge fight resulting in breakup / divorce (or a death)
- an abusive relationship (the theme of my debut “When I See Your Face”, which is available for free)
9 symptoms of a broken heart
These may vary depending on the person, the reason for the heartbreak and the intensity of it. There are many more signs that someone is lovesick, but you’ll get the picture…
- crying
- sleepless nights
- withdrawing into oneself
- fighting with the partner and everyone else
- begging the partner to give the relationship another chance
- binge-eating or loss of appetite
- feeling empty, lonely and worthless
- an actual ache in the chest region that coined the term heartache
- a vow never to fall in love again
11 ways to mend a broken heart
- face the truth and accept it
- confront the partner
- make a clean cut and put it all behind
- date actively, maybe try something exciting like a blind date
- distractions like music, going out, spending time with friends
- comfort food like chocolate
- list your strengths and learn to love yourself
- create a goal and a deadline to reach it (not necessarily dating-related)
- fantasize to picture yourself with someone else / in a perfect relationship
- help someone else
- read about the topic or read to forget
How about you? Any tips?
This post is my contribution to the 2015 Blogging from A to Z Challenge.