The breakup of a relationship can affect your mental wellness and your emotional wellbeing. Unfortunately, a relationship breakup is something that most people will experience at some point in their lives. If you think about it, a relationship breakup is not too dissimilar to a bereavement – the time spent with someone special comes to an end and you miss and ‘grieve’ for them in the same way as you would if they had died. This kind of stress can do harm to your body as well as your mind.
Emotional stress is one of the most common side effects of a breakup, although of course everyone handles a breakup in their own individual way. Much as there are different stages of grief, too, there are also different stages of breakup emotions, such as anger, denial and acceptance.
These emotions associated with a breakup can also lead to physical health problems. A seriously gruelling breakup can lead to symptoms such as drastic weight loss, insomnia, hair loss and a raised level of the stress hormone cortisol. This stress hormone can then lead to problems with the body’s digestive system, immune system, cardiac system and other body functions.
When emotional stress starts to take this kind of serious toll on physical health, it is time to seek help. A GP can be a good first port of call, and they may refer you on to a psychologist or a counsellor. These are trained professionals who can help with the emotions and stresses of a breakup, and many patients find that by making sense of the feelings that they are experiencing they see a dramatic improvement in any physical symptoms that they are experiencing as a result of the stress hormone. You could also refer yourself to a psychologist or counsellor privately.
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