We all know the withdrawal symptoms of a breakup, we surely know how hard it is to love someone again. It can be a daunting task by every stretch of the imagination. But fret not science has come to the rescue. It has been proven that getting over a breakup is as hard as rehabilitation from drug addiction.

According to American Psychological Society “Functional MRI Brain scan studies have shown that the withdrawal of romantic love activates the same mechanisms in the brain as get activated when addicts go through withdrawal from substances like cocaine or opioids.”

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In the second test, some participants were required to acknowledge their feelings. They had to keep up with all the feelings that were bursting inside and put a stop to it by accepting the reality.

In the fourth test, researchers left the participants to deal with the situation on their own. They were not given any methods to follow. No strategies were applied.

After the tests, researchers showed casual pictures of their exes, available on the social media. While doing this they put electrodes on the posterior of their scalps to measure the emotional response. Also, a questionnaire was thrown into the mix to aptly assess the readings. All the tests proved to work except for the one where no strategies were applied.

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Building negative feelings towards the ex-had a quicker effect than the rest to decrease the feelings of love. But at the same time, it brought emotional distress which researchers concluded could last for a short-term period.

The distraction worked but only indirectly. It made the participants feeling better but could not do much about the feelings for the exes. “Distraction is a form of avoidance, which has been shown to reduce the recovery from a breakup,” American Psychological Society, director of the Neurocognition of Emotion and Motivation Lab at the University of Missouri St. Louis.

Accepting those feelings muddled those responses towards the photograph, although affected nor mood neither love.

The study concluded that love cannot be controlled mechanically, it requires regular efforts to get over a relationship. It is necessary to try the three strategies to slowly overcome those feelings of love towards your ex. These will work as warning signboard to steer clear of any triggers that would make you bend back in the feelings that you wish to get rid of.