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We’ve all made the mistake of getting back into the dating game before we’re ready. When you’re heartbroken, the temptation to just drown your pain in new attention, affection, sex, or a fling is strong. But, dating too soon after a heartbreak is like drinking to treat a heartbreak: it feels temporarily better, and then feels much, much worse after. Unfortunately, you don’t get to cheat heartbreak. There aren’t any shortcuts or secrets to hacking it. There’s a certain amount of pain created by every breakup and, you kind of need to feel every bit of it until you feel better. So whether it’s binge drinking or dating early, all you do is put the pain on hold, but it doesn’t go away—it waits until you’re vulnerable and creeps back in, but stronger, because you ignored it for a while. Here is why you can’t date while heartbroken.
You can be too sensitive
You don’t have the usual protective skin that you normally would—that’s the stuff that keeps you from freaking out if someone reschedules a date or takes 20 minutes longer to call you than they said they would. That’s been worn down from your heartbreak, and so you can be very sensitive.
