Bad relationships are messy. Most people will have at least one in their lifetime. They might be outright abusive, or they might simply be unsatisfying and one-sided. Regardless, you’re going to need to work through some things emotionally after it’s over.
Spend More Time With Close Friends
It’s important for you to feel supported and to know that you’re loved. Spending time with close friends can help with this tremendously. Having a bad partner can be draining, and can often damage your self-esteem, confidence, and other relationships. Your ex-partner might have even intentionally created those kinds of conditions in order to make you more submissive. But even if they didn’t – it’s a good idea to reconnect with the people you love the most. Do something fun! Go out on a weekend. Explore something new that you haven’t done before. Reestablishing those connections as a single person will be different in a good way.
Go to Therapy
Everybody needs therapy. Mental health is a spectrum, and it’s not unreasonable to expect most people to periodically check up on themselves – like you do at a doctor’s office. A bad relationship needs processing. You need to understand what was bad about it and how you can move forward. Emotional abuse in relationships can be just as damaging as other kinds, so it’s important to work on psychological healing as well. You might have wounds or traumas that you’re not currently aware of. Thus, it’s always best to go and talk things through just in case. Processing your emotional baggage is an essential step toward taking care of yourself.
Work On Yourself
It might be some time before you feel ready for another relationship. That’s okay! It’s a good idea to work on yourself in the meantime until you do feel ready. In fact, if you feel the urge to dive into another relationship, you should be cautious. The need to be in a relationship can be a symptom of trauma and can serve to keep you in a cycle of bad relationships. Working on yourself means processing that trauma and learning to embrace yourself a little more. Therapy can be an important part of that, but so can self-care, spirituality, and concrete personal goals of improvement.
The important thing is to make sure that you deal with and validate your own pain while not hurting others or continuing the cycle. Keep in mind what is truly most important to you – and focus on healing and loving yourself.
Check out this article on what you need to stay healthy this summer!