A broken heart in teenage years and adolescent years is extremely difficult. It’s normal but very difficult and it's heart wrenching. So a few of the young people I have met with, they have come to me for this reason, that they have really struggled to overcome this breakdown in relationship and feel like their heart has been broken.
A lot of the times, the kind of symptoms that you’ll be experiencing will be very similar to those you will have when you are feeling low or unhappy, or even might be some type of depressive symptoms. So think about being tearful, unhappy, not eating, sleep disturbance, social isolation, withdrawing yourself from certain situations, not engaging in activities that maybe you used to. All of these symptoms indicate to us that your mood is low, so one of the best things I can really recommend is to do all the things you used to do when you were happy with that person.
So, things like, going out and socializing with friends, making sure you are eating something, especially breakfast, because as soon as you get your metabolism going, you are more likely to feel a bit hungrier throughout the day. Make sure you are keeping yourself distracted as much as you can. Go to the cinema, listen to music, watch movies, take up a new hobby, draw. Do all the things that would have made you happy before. So all these things are going to make you happy and see that there is hope for the future.
Some other things you can try, and definitely things I’d be recommending, is, try and spend as much time outside of your bedroom as possible. So, this may be with family or friends, but you don’t want to keep yourself isolated and alone. Because, when you are in that moment, all you are going to be thinking about is these thoughts that are going through your mind. And, we call this rumination, when you just go over and over, and you play out different situations and experiences, things that you could have done differently. But, at this point, it is just not the most helpful thing to get you back on the track to recovery from this. So, stay out of your bedroom, go out and exercise, go out with friends, eat as much healthy food as you can, make sure that you are getting stuff into your body.
Other things that you can do for a broken heart, would include things like seeing a school counsellor This can be really helpful if you feel that you have a relationship with him or her and that you can trust them. If this is not an option, speak to your parents about it, or if you have a really good friend that you trust as well, speak to them about it. Often, sharing things that are on our mind or making us upset, help to reduce the symptoms. So, pick someone that you trust and share with them as much as they will let you.
You want to try and make sure you are getting as much of it out as you can. If you’re not really feeling that your friends are going to listen and support you, write it down in some kind of journal. We just want to get these thoughts out of your mind and somewhere else. Best if you can have a friend or a parent because they can give you advice back.
Other than that, try to keep active.
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