For some, love is a drug. It has intoxicating highs and devastating lows, oftentimes making us spiral into what feels like the equivalent of a hangover. Whether it stems from an unexpected breakup or unrequited feelings, the emotional aftermath could be devastating. So in this article, I intend to share everything I know about how to get over a love hangover.
In short, getting over a love hangover is not dissimilar to getting over an actual hangover. You need to slow down, get rest, nourish yourself, avoid disturbances or anything that will aggravate your symptoms, and allow time to pass before you feel normal again.
As long as you constantly remind yourself that things will improve, you’ll heal. A positive mindset is instrumental to getting over a love hangover. What you say to yourself is just as important as what you do.
So be sure to affirm positive beliefs on a daily basis and do not attempt to escape or repress your feelings with unhealthy vices like alcohol. This is a pretty ironic sentiment, given that this article is on a colloquial term pertaining to a hangover.
Related article: 10 Ways to rebuild self-confidence after a breakup
What Is A Love Hangover?
A love hangover is just a term used to describe the effects or emotional aftermath of a failed romantic relationship.
Not dissimilar to the discomfort experienced by those who consume alcohol, a love hangover causes a host of symptoms, including sadness, anxiety, depression, fear, and frustration.
These lingering feelings or symptoms of a love hangover require care and time before they subside.
What’s also true is that exposure to the other person may prolong or worsen a love hangover, which is why it is of paramount importance to maintain a healthy distance while you are nursing your heart back to health.
Related article: 7 Reasons why you get attached so easily
6 Ways To Get Over A Love Hangover
1. Acceptance
It is said that suffering is wanting reality to be different than it is. What this implies is that radical acceptance may ease suffering and elicit feelings of freedom and hope.
Rather than resisting the emotional aftermath known as a love hangover, you would move on or get over these feelings by accepting their existence.
Allow yourself to feel sad, angry, confused, and/or anxious without judgment.
Don’t act on these feelings, and don’t critique yourself either. Through acceptance, we find healing and growth.
2. Maintain Distance
You will always feel resistance to the idea of walking away from someone you love. It may not even be entirely possible to cut contact, especially if you share custody of kids. What you can do is maintain as much distance as possible.
If you would like a step-by-step explanation on how to get an ex back or to re-attract someone who lost interest, grab a copy of my ebook called Reconcile. I put this guide together for serious students of the game who want to cut through the fluff and get results in their love life. Click Here To Check It Out!
If you can get away altogether, do so until you have nursed yourself back from the love hangover.
This may include muting or unfollowing them on social media until you’re over them.
3. Take Care Of Yourself
Pain is a natural reaction to loss or rejection, but do not attempt to escape or suppress pain in ways that are self-destructive. Self-care does not include the use of vices or rebound relationships.
The correct way to care for oneself is to prioritize your needs while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Partake in wholesome activities that provide a healthy dose of dopamine, like exercise, sports, cooking, and so on and so forth.
Most importantly, do not berate yourself with negative self-talk or criticism.
Speak to yourself as if you’re being supportive of a friend, and you’ll recover just fine.
While you’re at it, set some goals for yourself that can be achieved over the next 60–90 days. It will give you something to focus on during the hardest phase of a love hangover. I hate wasting time, so even if I’m going through difficulty in life, I want to know that I’m doing things that could pay off in the future.
Related article: 10 Ideas for self-care after a breakup
4. Lean On Support Systems
A love hangover can fool you into believing that life without the person you desire is unfulfilling. It’s effective to counteract that incorrect belief by surrounding yourself with other people you love, like family and friends.
During difficult times, good friends and family can nurse you back to good health.
A support system consists of people who are positive, optimistic, logical, and considerate. To be considerate means to say and do things that factor your wellbeing into their decision-making process.
Lean on friends and family who affirm your worth, hold you accountable, and gently guide you towards growth.
Avoid people who mask themselves as supportive but egg you on to self-destruct.
5. Reflect And Learn
The best way to ease or overcome suffering caused by rejection or a breakup like divorce is to give it meaning. Do this by seeking lessons from the relationship and using it as motivation to grow.
The whole idea of learning lessons has a future-based implication. What this means is that we mostly seek lessons that can benefit us in the future.
This subconsciously evokes feelings of hope that you will have an opportunity to experience love again, which will drastically improve the way you feel right now.
6. Be Patient
The more you focus on trying to get over a love hangover, the longer it will persist.
Give yourself the space and time to process the situation without an urgency to get over it.
Usually, when you let go and surrender to life, things fall into place without much resistance or suffering. It’s scary to do, but I promise you that patience, coupled with the rest of my advice, will help you move on and regain your old self in record time.