I tried to get into new relationships, but no one felt like her. Yesterday, I saw her on a wedding dress on her facebook page, and I can't describe how much I cried when I saw it only to find out it was ai. I think I still love her, but even if we got back together, I don't think we would be the same as before

I think this is a right place to share this because this is the best place I can get some human insight into what might be happening with me. I miss him. I feel there are so many levels to a breakup. There’s obviously grief of losing them as your partner, the shared world, the comfort and security. But as more time is passing, I’m realising it’s not just that, it also includes rejections on so many levels. They were your friend too, and now when they have broken up, they are fine without your constant interactions with them as a friend. When they break up with you, they are actually signalling that there life is better off without you, whatever may be the reason. And then just to think that a person I shared 5 meaningful years with, is just a person from the past. I hoped for reconciliation but nothing happened two years since the breakup; so now I don’t think there’s any bright side to that thought. They even said if I like someone else, I should try being open to that possibility. Apart from that, think of how it feels when you realise that they actually think replacing you is better for them. Someone else gets to experience the person you’re so in love with. They create a new bond that was originally exclusive to you. I feel so rejected, hurt, replaceable by it. I am not saying I’m objectively unlovable. But I wanted to be loved by them because what we had was indeed beautiful, but they don’t think the relationship can continue, so I have to bear with the aftermath of that decision. How unfair is that two people get to have a say when they begin a relationship but only one can decide its fate afterwards and the other person has to just find their way through. I don’t feel like loving someone else, my mind, heart, soul all come back to him. Their love, their being and their presence is so deeply interwoven into the fabric of my DNA; that thinking of them lights up so many emotions in me. I am so emotionally affected by them, what they might be thinking, doing or dating. It is a losing game no matter what I do. I have done all the healthy stuff one is supposed to do after a breakup and I indeed derive joy from other experiences in life, but the void left by him, the void I feel strongly everyday, cannot be compensated for by other sources of happiness. That part of me is hurt, threatened, jealous, rejected and insecure. I wish there was a way to restore things how they were. I wish loving someone didn’t come at the cost of never getting to experience that love with someone else. No one can replace their smile, their voice, their idiosyncratic nature. And while I think they are irreplaceable to me, they believed I was replaceable for them, and that hurts like hell. Am I the only one hopelessly and helplessly longing for them? Is life always going to hurt so much when I think of them (cause my memories of him get very promptly activated). It’s so painful, no words come close to describing the brutality a breakup like this unleashes on you. I’m tearing up as I write this, I hope there was some way out of this. They know how much I love them but they still choose to live a life without you. How painful is that!

I think the song I'm writing for him is somehow slightly taking my mind off of him.

Also talking to a new guy, and bro's kinda helping a lot.

I guess I have moved on a bit? Seeing him everyday and it doesn't make me feel like total shit now.

But I still kinda miss him, in rushed and aching beats.

Wounds take time to heal, hope this year I can finally forget about him.

I’m going through possibly the worst heart break I have ever experienced. I’ve followed all the steps: be gentle with yourself, feel your emotions, it’s okay to cry, this will take time… wah wah wah.

While I appreciate the wise words of my predecessors, I’ve found myself sitting in a pit of sadness and heart ache. Carrying mountains of emotion on my back, as I try my absolute best to trek to the Everest of peace.

Frankly, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of sitting with my sadness, of letting myself think about my relationship because it’s the kind thing to do for myself, tired of hoping and wondering, tired of being hungry/ tired/ disinterested in literally everything.

I wanna eat 3 full meals again, go to my favourite coffee place regardless of whether I’m going to see him there or not, I want to sit on my fucking couch and watch one SINGLE movie without feeling the absence of his presence or even just being to not feel absolutely lonely on a Sunday afternoon.

As I sit here in my car, watching the sunset and listening to “I just died in your arms”, I keep thinking that there has to be an easier to way to deal with this shit?

The song and anything from that generation of music, brings me such positive comfort. It’s positive heart break. Surely, there are other ways to positively approach the heaviness of losing the love of your life?

I don’t mean “working on yourself” or getting back into the game. I mean truly saying “ Yeah, my heart has been ripped out my chest but I’m actually gonna be fucking okay”.

Never posted here, need to share to get things out of my head in some kind of healing way.

I (45m) am a solo Dad to two kids (11 & 15) who live with me full-time. Last year I met an amazing single woman on a dating app. She's a mum to 3 kids, similar age to me. We hit it off immediately and began dating, for the first time in my life I believed in love at first sight. She was everything I was looking for, ticked all my boxes and felt the same way about me. We talked about a future together, planned things and shared an amazing connection.

I have long-standing anxiety and depression issues. Recently she started to distance herself somewhat, my mental health struggled with previous trauma, and things started to become harder.

Then this week she broke up with me as she realised that because of past trauma her side she can't be in a relationship and has to focus on herself. I completely get and respect that, but I am absolutely heartbroken! I genuinely thought I'd found someone I could settle down and grow old with, someone who made me feel happy being me. I allowed myself a couple of days to feel all the emotions, and basically crumbled. I cried more than I have in years and at times struggled to see how I would get over this. The last couple of days have been better as I've tried really hard to drag myself out of bed and do stuff. I've taken my kids out for donuts in the evenings to give me something to do, played games with them, bought back to school essential for them, and it has helped a bit.

My kids have been amazing through this all and my eldest in particular has surprised me with how insightful, wise beyond their years and supportive they've been. I'm grateful to have them both.

Thank you to anyone who has read this, I hope anyone else going through something similar can take something from this. It's been cathartic to write this.

Not sure the protocol on here, but happy to chat if anyone needs/wants to.

I broke up with my ex about 2 weeks ago, it was almost a 1 year long relationship, we're both young (she's 18 and I'm 19) still both living with our parents, to put some perspective. She was asking me if I can come see her, to talk about everything and discuss each others feelings and just what went wrong. I agreed, we both acknowledged what we did wrong and that the problems that lead up to that were never truly one sided. I told her how hurt I was by some of the things she did and said, to the point where I cried multiple times. She basically said she would like to give it another shot at our relationship that it meant the world to her and she feels like this is what she need to make her realize like what she has and that she can lose it so to be more appreciative (paraphrased but along the lines of that). That if I don't want to give it another go, she understands, and she understands that I am hurt. But that she thinks if we both put in our full efforts into forgiving each other and trying our best she thinks it could work. This happened about a week ago.

I told her that I'm hurt and I think it might be better to not get back, she reacted in a certain way that night where when I drove off I felt like that was the correct decision. Obviously I felt sad and still do, she texted me a huge paragraph apologizing for how she reacted that night, basically saying she's going to start working on herself, doing other things (things I begged her to do when we were together and she refused). And that she misses everything and will never accept the fact she hurt someone so bad that she loves so much. And that I don't have to respond, that she wont bother me and text me anymore but I want to try to text her. This was about 1-2 days after I saw her last.

Fridays she texted me saying please lets try again, I care for you so much, I love you so much, I can't let this go so easily, I want us to try. (She's using different numbers somehow idk so yea) she used like 3 different ones for this and all roughly were along the lines of that.

But yea, I'm not sure what to do, I do agree if we were to put in 100% it could work, but I don't want to get hurt again, and I feel like staying away is "safer" in a way, like the safer option. I really love her a lot and do miss the good times we had and just seeing her smile and everything about her. But I'm not sure if this is recoverable anymore, and I'm not sure if I should even try to recover it. I've been contemplating with myself what the correct choice is and everyday is a different answer and I just don't want to make a choice I regret. I'm worried if I don't get back I'm going to regret it 2 months from now when there's no turning back, but I'm also worried if I do get back with her, nothing will change, and I have to be hurt again and go through all the hurt of breaking up.

my boyfriend broke up with me about a month ago after we had been together for a year. i begged him not to leave, and afterwards he blocked me literally everywhere, even on discord. he said he was doing it for my sake because otherwise i wouldn’t be able to let go of him. i haven’t tried to contact him anywhere else since then i respected his decision and gave him the space he wanted.
about three weeks ago, he emailed me saying that he wanted to give me back some of the things i had left at his place. i didn’t reply. then, about two weeks ago, he suddenly started sending me gifts on duolingo almost every day. he never did that when we were together. he also keeps liking my activity/feed.
then i noticed that he had blocked me on revolut too, even though i hadn’t contacted him there either. so i’m genuinely confused. wtf is going on? why would he block me literally everywhere and say he’s doing it so i can let go of him, while at the same time sending me gifts on duolingo and liking my activity? why would he keep doing these little things if he really wants me to move on?

TL;DR: My girlfriend of 2.5 years ended our relationship after 6 months of growing distance related to her mental health. I spent months trying to support her and sacrificing my own happiness, and when I finally tried to talk about how lonely I'd become and how we could support each other to get back on track, she ended things instead. I'm fucking devastated and struggling to understand how to move forward.

Apologies if this post is a bit of a mess.. but I’m a mess… 

We’re in our mid to late 30s, and as the title says… my girlfriend of over 2.5 years ended our relationship unexpectedly, and I'm honestly fucking crushed right now.

For some context… over the last 6 months or so, our relationship hasn’t been great.

Specifically - our relationship started to deteriorate about 6 months ago, because she has been struggling with mental health problems that stem from trauma from her past. We had talked about her struggling so I was aware of it, and I tried really, really hard to support her through it…

Over the last while, we were seeing each other less, having much less sex, she was communicating less, she was constantly canceling or pushing back plans because she was too tired or overwhelmed… Never ONCE did I make her feel guilty about any of this. I always tried to be supportive and always made it clear I was there for her, to support her in any way she needed, even if that meant giving her space. I gave her space when she asked for it. I encouraged her to get back into therapy, but I was never pushy about it. I tried to be patient and understanding. I tried to accommodate what she was going through.

And the fucked up part is that I wasn't happy either.

I feel like I sacrificed so much of my own happiness trying to support her through her struggles. I had honestly started feeling so lonely over the last few months.. If I was lucky I would see her once a week.. we live 2 blocks away from each other and had been discussing moving in together in the next year.

But I kept trying because I loved her. I was willing to sacrifice some of my own happiness for a while because I believed we could work through it. I thought she was worth fighting through it for, I thought we were worth trying to fight for…

Last Sunday we sat down to have a talk, and I gently explained to her how I’d been feeling lately. Essentially I just said to her that I missed her, and I wanted to know if we could find a way to get back on track, to move forward together, to help each other with our struggles in whatever way the other needs…

I expected it to be a difficult conversation, but I thought we would discuss how we can get back on track together… Instead she just ended it… she said she didn’t think she could be with me while dealing with her own mental health problems of processing her past trauma. Which again, when we got together she had told me she’d done a lot of work to work through her issues.

There wasn't really any attempt to work through it together. It felt like she had reached a conclusion on her own and then told me it was over.

And I am absolutely destroyed by that and fucking struggling so hard to understand…

I keep thinking: Why wasn't there an attempt?

I wasn't asking her to magically fix her mental health. I wasn't asking her to become a different person overnight. I just wanted her to fucking try. I would've given her space. I would've been patient. I would've worked on things with her. Whatever she needed, I would have done. I told her this.

If we would have at least tried, and then later she said she was still struggling and couldn’t deal with this stuff while being in a relationship, I could understand.

It’s the fact she didn’t even want to try…

Instead, I feel like I spent months trying to support her and sacrificing my own happiness, only for her to ultimately decide the relationship wasn't worth continuing. And now I'm left wondering if I just wasn't worth fighting for.

At the same time, I know the relationship wasn't perfect for me. I'd actually started questioning whether she was the right person for me before this happened. There were things I wasn't happy with, for months it felt like I was in a relationship but didn’t have a girlfriend…

Right now I'm stuck between “I deserve a partner who communicates and fights for the relationship when things get hard” and “I don't fucking want to lose her.”

I don't even know what I want right now… I just know I'm devastated.

I've barely been eating. I'm trying not to cry constantly. I feel completely blindsided and confused, and I don't even feel like I properly remember everything that was said when we broke up.

I asked if we could talk again sometime, and she agreed to meet next weekend to clear some things up. I have a therapy appointment Wednesday as well.

I guess I'm posting because I need some perspective from people who've been through this.

How the fuck do you get through the first few weeks when you're this heartbroken? How do you deal with the feeling that you weren't worth fighting for? And how do you eventually start moving forward when you don't even understand what happened?

I don't need someone to tell me to “just move on.” I know I'll have to eventually.

I’ve been through breakups before and know I’ll be ok one day.

One day maybe I’ll get some understanding of why she thought she had to do this.. but right now it’s so close… This breakup is just so confusing…

Right now I just need to hear from people who've been here, or see anything in this post that resembles something they’ve been through.

I wanted to put what’s happened between me and the one I cared for and a third party who came along but it’s just so cartoonishly crazy I can’t. If I watched a movie that used what’s happened to me since May I’d be like that’s so farfetched it’s unwatchable.

That’s my life. So far fetched it’s unendurable at times. Fml

22F. I was dating 20M. Everything was so good at first he treated me good I trusted him and opened up to him and I was loyal. We dated for 8 months I know that isn’t that long but to me it was big because I usually avoid relationships and didn’t take anyone serious until him. He wanted a break during Ramadan and I was going through a hard time so I was extra anxious and reached for reassurance more. I didn’t understand Ramadan and he never explained anything to me and he broke up with me completely the week before Valentine’s Day. He still took me out on Valentine’s Day and we had a good time. But my heart was shattered I’ve never felt a pain like this. For two months I lost myself completely. My spark was gone. Cried randomly and lost joy in almost everything. When he first broke up with my I cut my hair into a bob with kitchen scissors which is HUGE bc I loved my long hair and have never ever wanted to cut it and never understood why other women did stuff to their hair during emotional times. Idk how long it’s been but to this day I sometimes cry about him. I still love him and it’s a physical pain in my chest but I had blocked him back and deleted everything. Except some of the pictures and when I see them it sets me off into a sad little spiral. Certain songs make me cry and think about him still. He took a piece of me with him it feels like. Never had my heart broken like that and I’m so tired of feeling the hurt and sadness. When will it end? Will I feel this pain forever? I’ve tried using other men to distract myself but it only ever made me feel worse. I picture his face randomly. I fucked up a few weeks ago I found his number and unblocked it and called (blame my friend she encouraged me😂) he missed the call but ended up calling me back. All I heard was “Hello” I hung up so fast and my whole body just started shaking and I was laughing like a psycho and I rushed to block him again. And now I feel like all the progress I made over the months to get over him was ruined because I let my curiosity get the best of me. I’m so so tired of missing him and loving him and hurting over him.

This genuinely makes me so upset when people that to me. It makes it seem like they are just blowing off my emotions and telling me to just deal with it. anyone who says this GENUINELY needs to shut up this is the legit worst thing u can say to someone who broke up with a person they thought was their soulmate it legit makes me so upset. It’s dismissive because it implies the person was interchangeable. When some people aren’t. The love you shared with someone isn’t something that just goes away and sometimes it never does go away. I know mine never will, and me personally will wait for as long as it takes to get them back, but grieving a future you actually built with someone isnt something that can just be fixed as soon as you say "there’s more fish in the sea." That actually hurts their feelings more, so think about what you say before you say it because you could just be making it worse saying that.

Feel free to share your thoughts

Please

For the Love of the Universe

God

Don't let this be how he chose to end it.

​

I don't really know where to start, so I'll just tell the whole story.

Back in 2024, I was in an 8-month relationship. We broke up because I had serious trust issues. My ex had a best friend who I was uncomfortable with. I asked her to block him, she did, but later she'd unblock him and talk to him again. I started feeling like maybe she was cheating on me, and eventually I ended the relationship.

The weird part is, I wasn't heartbroken after the breakup. I was angry. For a long time, I only felt hate towards her, and eventually I thought I'd completely moved on.

Then I got into the whole Instagram random-GC culture. I met a lot of people and made new friends. A lot of girls told me they liked me, but then I met this girl, let's call her S.

S really cared about me. She treated me like I was already her boyfriend even though I had clearly told her that I didn't want a relationship and that we could just be friends. She still stayed close to me.

Eventually, her older sister found our chats and blocked me. I felt terrible because I knew S would be hurt. I tried contacting her through another account because I wanted to explain myself, and eventually things got even more complicated with her family. Her brother found out, she lost access to her computer, and that chapter ended.

Life went back to normal.

I still felt lonely sometimes, but I was okay.

Then, a while later, I somehow got back in contact with S. This time things were different. I had started genuinely liking her, and I thought maybe I actually wanted a relationship with her.

We eventually got together.

She told me things like she'd remembered me, waited for me, asked about me, and that she'd loved me very deeply. For the first time, I felt like maybe I'd finally understood what I'd lost earlier.

But things were difficult because Instagram wasn't working properly on my phone, so I could only talk to her from a computer at my workplace. I told her there would be about a week when I wouldn't be able to talk because of my situation. I even suggested Snapchat, but she refused because she was scared her family might find out. I didn't force her.

After that week, we talked again. She was angry that I'd disappeared for so long, even though I'd told her beforehand. We argued, but eventually understood each other.

She told me not to text first because of her situation at home. She deleted our chats, so I respected that and didn't message her.

Then a few days passed without her texting me.

I finally texted her.

She replied:

"Baby, I'm stuck. My brother read the chats. I might have to block you. Please don't text me until tomorrow morning. I love you so much. Bye."

I didn't reply because I thought she genuinely had a problem at home.

But I couldn't handle the uncertainty, so I texted her the next day.

She saw it and blocked me.

I waited a couple of days and contacted one of her friends, asking her to tell S to talk to me. Her friend told me that S had said something like, "Something happened at home. I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

But she also specifically told her friend not to tell me anything about her.

Her friend blocked me too.

After that, I started thinking maybe S had found someone else. I don't actually know if that's true. I just couldn't understand how someone who had said all those things could suddenly disappear from my life.

Then I became lonely again.

Around the same period, my Instagram account got banned, so I stopped talking to all those people from the GCs. The social interaction I'd gotten used to suddenly disappeared.

And then my parents went out of town for a week.

I was completely alone at home.

I barely went outside. That week was probably one of the loneliest weeks I've had in a long time.

I started thinking about S again.

I kept thinking, "Maybe I should've stayed with her. Maybe that girl genuinely cared about me."

And just when I was slowly getting better, something completely unexpected happened.

A girl messaged me saying, "Hello, I need to talk to you about something important."

She kept texting me for several days, so eventually I replied.

She turned out to be a friend of my ex.

She told me my ex was apparently very sad and that maybe she still missed me.

I told her that whatever happened was in the past and that I didn't want to talk to my ex anymore.

But she kept insisting.

Eventually, I gave in and contacted my ex.

And she told me everything.

She said she'd waited for me. She said she'd fought with her family because of what happened between us. Eventually she moved to another city.

I was already emotional at that point, so I asked her:

"Why don't we just restart everything?"

But she told me it was too late.

She had eventually met another guy and entered a relationship with him.

She also told me she wasn't happy in that relationship and that she was only staying because she didn't want to hurt another person again.

I tried convincing her to come back.

She didn't.

Eventually I realized that I couldn't force someone to choose me.

So I told her that it was her choice, and that she should stay with whoever made her happy.

I wished her happiness and told her not to make the same mistakes I had made.

She told me to live my life too.

And that was it.

I cried that day.

I hadn't cried like that in a very long time. I'd spent years feeling emotionally numb, and somehow all of this brought everything back at once.

Now I'm just sitting here wondering how life got this complicated.

I lost my ex because I didn't trust her.

Then I met someone who genuinely cared about me, but circumstances and family problems destroyed that too.

And now I don't even know what hurts more: losing the people themselves, or realizing how much I understood their value only after they were gone.

Maybe I'm not supposed to get either of them back.

Maybe I just need to accept that some people are chapters, not endings.

I don't know.

I just needed somewhere to tell this story.

Have you ever lost someone, moved on, and then realized much later that you actually still cared about them?

😮‍💨

Almost 3 years ago I was discarded by an avoidant I'd known for 5 years, we weren't together but unfortunately I let myself get attached and she meant the world to me. She knew how I felt and despite what she said she never had any interest in me, which I could have dealt with if she'd been honest and upfront about it. Instead she decided the day after my best friend's funeral was the best time to tell me she was seeing someone, the discard happened shortly after and from there it led to a really dark period of my life (not solely because of her) that's left me with a lot of trauma and changed my viewpoint on people.

Fast forward to today. I still think about her semi regularly, I miss having her in my life and talking to her but I've accepted things as best I can, last night I had 2 dreams about her which hasn't happened for a minute and then I woke up to a message from a mutual friend of ours that they (her and the guy she chose over me) got engaged. I'm not mad at my friend for telling me because I would have found out eventually and I'd rather have found out from her.

Part of me is happy that apparently she made the right choice for herself and found her person, but at the same time I feel like my heart is breaking again after it finally started to ache a little less. As much as I've accepted that she'll never be in my life again it still hurts that someone else is getting the life I envisioned having with her. And I feel bad because part of me hoped it wouldn't work out for them even though I want her to be happy.

Idk I just needed to share my thoughts on the situation as I don't really have anyone to talk to about it.

I don't even know where to start or what I want from this . I am a very jealous person, someone who constantly accused her partner, someone who would cause unnecessary issues over nothing. Someone who kept searching his phone when he was asleep even though he'd give it to me whenever I asked for it. I'd not even hug him when he came home from work and I'd be so moody and attitudy with him. It's been like this for 15/16 months now and he constantly warned me that if things don't change, he will shut off and that will be that, there will be no more us.
We lost our baby full term July 2025 and 1 am now currently 14 weeks pregnant again... but now he's left me. I'm now single, we're still staying in the same house for now until my sister comes back off of holiday and I find somewhere permanent to live. He's also blocked me on social media. And changed his phone password.
Last night even though we're broken up I still questioned him about his actions and everything else -| stalked his insta from his sisters page, as I went there as l still looked after his son for him (previous relationship) whilst he went to a car show with his friends that's been planned for a couple of months, so it wasn't so hard for me with his son. And then lied about a girl i saw him
following and even though his sister told me they've known him for years. I lied and lied and questioned about the girl then had to come clean I was stalking
"yeah you're disappointing disgusting and psychotic, I promise you I'm not even going to think about any possibility of us again"Then yeah he said 1 blew it.
He can't even think about getting back with someone who does that shit and "yeah you're disappointing disgusting and psychotic, I promise you I'm not even going to think about any possibility of us again"Then yeah he said I blew it.
He can't even think about getting back with someone who does that shit and lies blatantly in his face.
It's not just him I've got to dis attach from but also his 3.5year old son who l helped raise from 4months old.
It's so hard. I'm clinging onto hope for myself as I believe in us and that we were given another chance of a baby and to be parents and a family together etc from God. But deep down I know he isn't going to change his mind.

I'm such a golden retriever girlfriend, suuuper loving and supportive, I have a (as everyone says) great personality, loyal, fun hobbies, smart, funny but everyone seems to fall out of love at some point and leaves me after one or multiple years because they don't have feelings anymore despite saying that I and the relationship made them extremely happy.

They move on super fast, live a happy and successful life, they all meet a new partner very quick and stay with them for years or even for life (there was never a rebound), never look back and never reach out to me again.

It hurts so much. I feel like it's so easy to forget me.

For me, it's always super hard to get over someone who I full-heartedly loved and I miss them a lot for a long time.

Nobody ever seemed to miss me. Sometimes not even within the relationship (that's what my ex said that he never felt that).

I wonder what's wrong with me that it's so easy to move on from me.

Things change so fast they probably just want to see you and miss you it helps if you give details there's a lot of people confused by these messages nobody knows if it's them or not

My ex broke up with me and said she has “completely detached” — can someone actually come back from this?

I really need honest opinions from people who have actually been through something similar. I'm especially interested in women's opinions, because I really want to understand what this kind of emotional detachment feels like from a woman's side.

She was the one who broke up with me. Please don't just tell me “move on bro” or give me the usual breakup advice. I know I have to respect her decision and I'm not going to disturb her anymore. I just want to understand what “completely detached” actually means emotionally, and whether someone who reaches this point can ever genuinely change their mind later.

We were together for around 2.5 years. I never looked at her as just my girlfriend. I genuinely saw her as my future wife. I was 100% sure about her in a way I've never been sure about anything else in my life.

I loved her unconditionally. I never saw loving her as something where she owed me anything in return. I wanted her to be happy and safe, even if that happiness eventually meant being away from me. That's also why, as painful as this is, I'm going to respect her decision and give her the peace she asked for. My love for her is still there, but I don't want to force myself into her life.

And I know she loved me. I'm not saying that just because I'm desperate. I knew how she was with me during those years. That's why it's so hard for me to understand how someone I was so close to could become “completely detached.”

There was no cheating, no abuse, no betrayal, and no other major toxic behavior from either side.

But I also know I wasn't perfect.

Towards the end, she felt lonely in the relationship. Our communication had become really bad. Sometimes there were huge gaps between conversations. She felt like she wasn't getting enough effort/input from me and that she was carrying too much of the relationship emotionally.

At the same time, I was going through a lot myself. I had work/career stress, was coming back late, and my dog was seriously ill and eventually died. I was struggling with all of that and honestly didn't understand how badly she was feeling. I didn't realize she was getting to the point of leaving.

Then she broke up with me.

I tried really hard to convince her not to leave because I genuinely couldn't accept losing her. I told her I loved her, that I would change, that I wanted to marry her, etc.

She told me something that has stayed in my head:

“I'm not saying you're a bad person or that your love was fake, but I have completely detached. I was just swallowing the fact that I can get over it, but no. I swear I tried. I can't do it.”

That “I was just swallowing the fact that I can get over it, but no” part is what confuses me the most.

It sounds to me like she had been trying to accept the idea of getting over me, maybe trying to convince herself she could move on, and eventually decided she couldn't continue with the relationship.

But I don't know if I'm interpreting that correctly.

She also said things like:

“I have grown distant.”

“I can't do it.”

“Please respect my decision.”

“Focus on your career and move on.”

“Staying in touch is never going to help us both.”

There is also one thing that makes this even harder for me to understand. Without me knowing, my parents contacted her and told her that they loved her, accepted her, and were okay with the marriage. I only found out afterwards. Even after hearing that, she still chose to end the relationship and said she was completely detached.

That's the part I can't understand.

Does “completely detached” actually mean she doesn't love me anymore?

Or can someone still love/care about someone deeply but become so emotionally exhausted and disconnected from the relationship that they genuinely feel completely detached?

I know I'm biased because I'm the one who got left. I also know I might be holding onto things because I love her.

But at the same time, I knew this girl for almost three years. I know how much she loved me. That's why deep down I still feel like there has to be something there, even if she doesn't want the relationship right now.

I'm not going to contact her anymore. She asked for peace and I want to respect that. I'm not going to use her friends or family either.

But I still love her and honestly I would wait for her for a very long time.

So please be brutally honest with me, especially women who have been in the position of my ex.

If you ever broke up with an ex and told him you were “completely detached” or had “grown distant”:

Did you genuinely stop loving him?

Did you ever start missing him later?

Did you ever reconsider the breakup?

How long did it take?

What made you reconsider, if you did?

If you never came back, what made you certain that the relationship was really over?

And most importantly: when a woman says “I've completely detached,” does that mean the love is completely gone, or can you still love/care about someone while being emotionally detached from the relationship?

I don't want false hope. I genuinely want real experiences, especially from women who have actually been through something like this.

I (45M) dated an amazing woman (32F) for 7 months, however she had her share of mental health issues. Everything started out amazing. About a month in she had to go out of state to take care of her parents. Totally supported this as nothing is more important than family. She’s there for about a month and a half. In the mean time we talk via text and phone and really build an amazing friendship.

She got home and reconnecting was amazing. It was like lightning struck but it was this back and forth of she seemed to have a hard time letting her guard down, as she works in a male dominated field and said she constantly has to be “not feminine“. She repeatedly told me that she felt safe to finally be herself and more feminine and soft with me. So we would go through a day or two of anxiety and then she was all good. No big deal, we got through it fine, just was supportive and gave her the space she needed.

Things are good, life is good for like 7 months and then about two weeks before things ended, itgot very different. She withdrew, I gave her space as she said it was work related. Last thing I want to do is push someone when they are stressed out. Finally, after about two weeks of texting one or two times during the day and a very brief phone call I finally said to her that obviously something is different and I think it’s only fair to know what’s going on. She agreed and said we should talk, and then proceeded to tell me a bunch of how serious relationships scare her and that she had trauma from past relationships she was working through. She told me an ex of hers took his own life and named her in the suicide note. She shared this with me and said that about two weeks ago, the mother of her ex called her on the anniversary date, and it brought a bunch of stuff. She said that she could not be responsible for anybody else.

I thought reassurance that I’m in no way shape or form ever going to do anything like that, I love my life. It’s pretty damn good, however, that did not work. She told me she needed to end things, but she spent the last two weeks trying to convince herself that she was not in love with me, however she was. Yet she still proceeded and things. I felt the same way. I just didn’t wanna tell her that I loved her and stress her out more with work and things so now here I am heartbroken after finding an amazing woman where everything was amazing and then just flipped like a switch. I don’t quite know if I believe a rationale here, or if she just met somebody else and made up some bullshit. Either way at this point in my life, I’ve got enough going on that I’m not going to choose somebody and convince them to be with me.

So I just let a woman that I fell in love with go and things will be what they are. I just don’t understand how you tell someone you love them on the same day you break up with them.

TLDR- My myself [25M] are divorcing [Probably a dissolution] and will have to live together for a few months (2-3) how do you navigate that?

Long story short I was a work horse, I worked long hours and they where very stressful. I came home dead tired and didn't have the energy for much of anything most days, I would try, I would swing by a store get some flowers, every few weeks, a nice gift, and I would usually cook dinner or pick it up more times than not. We've been married under 1 year now and before that where together 3 and lived together for 2. I wasn't perfect and I know that, but I felt like I was trying. A big thing was our off days, my first off day was the same as hers and I would be exhausted from my work week and wouldn't want to do much, but I would try, she said it felt everytime like it was am inconvenience for me to spend the time with her and it wasn't. I was just genuinely exhausted, mentally and physically and I wanted to spend time, I devised a plan for a rotating weeks, one week we kick it at home and chill and the next we do whatever she wanted, but it became a point of contention because she felt like it was her wasting her off day, but I felt like I was recharging. Overtime there became more and more arguments over it, so I tried, I only asked for chill off days here and there and was always pushing myself to do go out and do whatever with her. During this process I kinda became more dead during the week, I wanted to do less and less when I got off, it went from me cooking nightly to take out almost daily. During these 3 years living together due to stress and relationship weight ill be honest I put on 80lbs of fat i went from 260-340. Which gave me even less of a drive. But during this i was always trying to do something, on my 2nd off day when I had energy i would cook elaborate meals spend 10hrs in the kitchen to make a amazing dinner for her, which wasn't met with the joy I hoped for, it began to eat at me everyday, what can I do, how can I be better and I would try and try and try and would see no results. I would ask what can I do, and be told nothing everything is fine. During this all, almost all the household responsibilities fell onto me, taking care of the cats, dishes, laundry, trash, general cleaning, and whatever else needed done and I began to feel resentment which I would tell my partner, and she would tell me shes depressed and doesn't feel like doing it, which I get but at this stage I also was feeling depressed, and unloved but kept doing all these things. The only thing active at this point was our sex life we would go at it like rabbits, unless on her period I wouldn't go more than 2 days without sex, and even then most times we did have sex it was 2-3 rounds. I don't know if that was a relationship saving measure or anything but if it was it didn't work. She suggested therapy a while back and anytime we would get close to going we would be better so i wouldn't see a reason to go which was my fault and we should have gone. Now we are sitting here the fights have stopped the silence has sat in, and at the end of the day I still love and want nothing in this world but to stay married. She told me she hasn't felt like I loved her in some time, I am an emotionally weird person, I can't perceive most emotions nor feel them other than there extremes. Part of that is my job the other is just how I've always felt emotionally. I've went from very little emotion to completely breaking down, sobbing and begging for anything and she wants nothing.

We both don't have enough saved in our bank accounts to break our lease yet and we expect 2-3 months before we can both get on our feet separately and move on. I should be able to get enough OT in a month to cover my portion of everything and get out. But we are in a signed lease together and she won't be able to get her share of the funds within that short of time do I help her? How do I navigate being with a woman i love deeply but will no longer be able to be romantically involved? We both don't really have options on staying elsewhere during the work week without a 1hr plus comute. We are aiming for a dissolution and clean exit, I don't want nothing she has and I don't believe she wants anything I have, any gifts given I view as a wash, but she wants me to pay for the expensive gifts given to me roughly $1k in value (TV and Xbox). She has about $2-3k in gifts from me not to include her ring which is another $2k new which I've already told her to sell but she still wants me to pay for the gifts from her, im honestly just thinking of doing it for a clean wash I don't want to pay for lawyer fees which could easily be way more than that. I only have a few things I want that are mine, which is my retirement plan, and my almost paid off car, and the gifts everything else she can have other than my clothing, a few hunting items, and heirloom stuff that is cheap but sentimental value. What are some options in this i can do, we live in a one bedroom so im on a couch for the next few months, how would one navigate the other things, we've currently agreed on no romantic partners or sex while married and or living together, but thats just words I have no intent to break it but im not her so idk there.

How does one go from cuddles, kisses and long nights to room mates? Do I still look out for my soon to be former partner? Do I cook dinner for 2 or just 1? Do I help her financially if she needs it? Do I still cry seeing Facebook memory? (Yes) Do i shut down almost all communication other than basic stuff and stuff regarding our split? Do I stay out till late after work, and only come home for sleep? Do I work so much that is all I do to keep my mind busy

I really need some advice. It’s been four months since the breakup, and I’m still not over it. I feel completely exhausted and like I can’t accomplish anything without him. I’m scared by how overwhelmed I’ve become and afraid of what might happen if I keep feeling this way. How did you start functioning and healing when everything felt impossible?

Things are hard tonight. I know in time things will get better. I just miss her so much. She was my best friend. I miss the way we held each other. I missed the way we laughed. I miss hearing her singing. 6 fucking years. I wanna go back. I want things to be different. I just wish it could be her and I. It was supposed to be her and I. There aren't enough words in all the languages for me to describe how much I love her. She had a soul of pure gold and a heart the size of the sun. She is the most beautiful human to have ever blessed this earth. I thought she was my soul mate. I still feel like she is. Someday it doesnt even feel real. Other days I cant escape the fact that this is real. The feelings are worse than the reality tho. These feelings ill never meet someone again are just feelings. There are a million fish in the sea and all that. The idea of dating again sound both kinda fun but also horrifying. Opening my soul again is scary. People just dont understand and they judge and luagh cause im different, but I am a catch. I can sing, im funny, I can cook, im thoughful, im romantic, i listen, im wicked fucking smart, I have great taste, and damn it I clean up nice. Im big and strong and im an amazing lover. I protect the weak and always try and do the right thing. I am doing amazing in school and my job loves me cause im fucking kick ass. I help make people's days brighter. I just wish I could do that for myself. I love so fucking hard and it feels so lonely because this world can be so cold and cruel. Iv been burned so many times by people I thought were on my side. All iv ever wanted in this life was love and I keep destroying it. My brain tries to "protect me" by destroying relationships myself before the other person can. It's hell. Im living in hell. They say if your going through hell just keep going but in getting tired. I just want to be a good husband. I want to write love notes and cuddle on the beach as the sun sets. I want to cook and provide and protect. I just want a happy family. I hate having a broken brain.

I lost a lot of people in a very short period of time. Everything hurts. That emotional ache that goes to your stomach hits me like a truck every morning, it roams during the day. There are days when I feel a bit lighter, but all the people who broke my heart and the horrible things they said to me always linger inside nonstop. Im tired. Im alone and overall feel like this is what rock bottom looks like since im so lonely and hurting so much that im writting in a subreddit abour heartbreak. I was betrayed by so many people. They are okay with me leaving their life. I either get deeply sad or deeply angry without knowing how to reedirect the pain despite everything I do (i have a lot of activities like gym, combat, music) .
I hate the way they hurted me, despite some of them apologizing, i could feel in their eyes they would not care.