8 Unexpected Side Effects Of A Broken Heart

8 Unexpected Side Effects Of A Broken Heart ©iStock/Brainsil

Being in love is the greatest feeling in the world, but having your heart broken may just be the worst. And it’s not just a state of mind — it can be physical, too. Sure, you’ll eventually move on and get over him completely, but in the meantime, there are a whole host of unexpected side effects that come with heartbreak:

  1. Apathy. A broken heart might start out with depression, but eventually you start to feel numb to feelings and you kinda don’t give a damn about anything. You’ll wonder if you’re even capable of ever loving or even feeling a connection to another man. You don’t even know if you want to; all you know is that right now, you’re numb to anything and everything.
  2. Insomnia. Your emotional pain is actually causing you physical pain, and all this turmoil is making you downright exhausted. You want to sleep all night and day, but every time you close your eyes, there he is, haunting you. Anxiety plagues your mind as every thought turns to the man who once was your everything and who sadly will never be again.
  3. Weight loss or gain. Can’t eat, can’t sleep, because what’s the point? As your scale starts dropping and you finally feel the need to eat something, you’re not just eating — you’re binging. That demon of an ex sucked all the happiness out of your life, so the only way to cope is chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.
  4. Identity crisis. Who are you without your ex? He was your other half, so how can you ever be whole without him? Your whole world is ending and you don’t know how to be you without his love. He was a part of you and now that he’s gone, you feel like nothing. So who were you before? Who are you now? And how can you learn to be yourself again?
  5. Cynicism. Once upon a time is a load of crap. Your ex was supposed to be your happy ending and look how that turned out. The fairy tales got it wrong. There’s a reason most marriages end in divorce. There are no happily ever afters and every relationship is doomed to end in heartbreak. So what’s the point in even trying?
  6. Impulsiveness. You tell yourself you’re not going to contact him, but somehow you’ve sent him text after text with no reply. Your call log is full of unanswered calls of desperation to He Who Must Not Be Named. You’re having some serious withdrawal from your former life and there’s no cure in sight.
  7. Desperation. You want your ex back at any cost, so you willfully ignore all the bad stuff about your relationship to justify why you belong together. Eventually you’ll realize how much better you are than this heartbreak, but until then, your self-worth is dependent on how your ex feels and if he’s moving on without you.
  8. Loss of faith in humanity. The stress of losing the most important person in your life might just kill you. The person you trusted most in this world betrayed you. He promised forever and then out of the blue he fell completely out of love with you. If you can’t trust him, who can you trust?
Kelsey Dykstra is a freelance writer based in Huntington Beach, CA. She has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Grand Valley State University and been writing professionally since graduating in 2013. In addition to writing about love and relationships for Bolde and lifestyle topics for Love to Know, she also writes about payment security and small business solutions for PaymentCloud.

Originally from Michigan, this warm weather seeker relocated to the OC just last summer. Kelsey enjoys writing her own fictional pieces, reading a variety of young adult novels, binging on Netflix, and of course soaking up the sun.

You can find more about Kelsey on her LinkedIn profile or on Twitter @dykstrakelsey.
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