Covid Awareness

Heartbreak and stress during COVID-19 Pandemic

Think about the last time you went through a Heart break; you probably did everything you could to get your mind off it. Maybe you rallied your best friends for a girls' night out, hit the gym every morning, or maybe you booked a solo trip somewhere exotic. Unfortunately, at the moment, during the covid-19 crisis none of those options are on the table, which makes diverting your attention away from heartbreak or other painful feeling difficult. The sudden lockdown and threat of this pandemic has taken toll on many romantic relationships. As the future seems uncertain, one of the most common feeling felt by couples is a sense of insecurity and anxiety related to their deteriorating relationships. 

As the world is adopting to the new normal way of living, everything is turning virtual due to the social distancing norms. Phones have taken the major role in connecting people instead of physical interaction leading to miscommunication between people in general. 

Fights within couples are common during the period of lockdown as people are spending more time doing work from home and less time having conversation with each other. There is no dedicated time for work and social life. Stress level has drastically hyped because of the financial worries. 

Heart breaks are leading to creating more mental health issues now than ever. In 1990, in Japan, a new kind of condition was identified called ‘Takotsubo (stress) cardiomyopathy’, also known as broken heart syndrome. The symptoms of this condition are similar to as heart attack and is often misdiagnosed as one. Such as shortness of breath and chest pain, are similar in both conditions. However, those with broken heart syndrome do not have blocked coronary arteries, and usually make a fast and full recovery. This causes stress and this syndrome is drastically increasing during this Pandemic. Heart breaks are hard, and moving on from a relationship is even harder now, amidst the Pandemic. People are finding it difficult to cope with this situation as a lot of complexity tends to occur. Breakups are extremely painful but it is also devastating when the life you were looking forward to having after the shutdown is no longer possible. It is natural to mourn the loss of a rosy future which you thought of spending together and this feeling of uncertainty is creating a lot of problems and distress among a lot of people which becomes very difficult to cope with. There is no particular season designated solely for heartbreaks. It can happen on those winter nights when you thought you would have someone to hold close by or on days you thought you would have someone witness the fall.

The best way to overcome breakups during pandemic is by reaching out to your friends and family, be it virtually. More than anything, you need human connection, and even if that can't come in the form of a massive hug, just knowing that someone's there to listen to you vent and cry about the relationship can be invaluable.

Secondly you can find yourself a hobby, something that you would love to do when you are alone or bored or even missing your ex. This will help you establish your identity separate from your relationship, and give you something to look forward to every single day. 

Thirdly, focus on what you learned from your past relationship. Jumping into a new relationship right after a breakup is a lost opportunity. Every relationship ends for a reason, and you need to give yourself the time to really process that breakup and see where things went wrong, try to look at a breakup as an opportunity for growth and healing. Lastly, process your feelings. Don’t stay in denial or try to repress your feelings. It will only increase your misery. Let it out, take your own time to cope up with the situation.