From Carrie and Mr. Big from “Sex and the City” to Ross and Rachel from “Friends,” to your college roommate and her annoying boyfriend, we’ve all known one of those couples who seems to fight and break up frequently, only to get back together a week later. It’s annoying just to watch that on-again, off-again cycle play out, but it turns out it can really mess with your head if you’re one of the people living it.
According to a new study, breaking up and getting back together can seriously affect mental health in a negative way. Researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia reviewed data from over 500 people in both hetero and same-sex relationships to find out what these on-off romances do to us psychologically. And it turns out, habitual breaking up is linked to negative things like anxiety and depression.
Study co-author Kale Monk points out that breaking up and getting back together isn’t always a bad thing for a couple, like if ending things helps one partner realize the importance of their relationship and they reunite to a healthier, more committed union. It’s the couples who cycle through reconciling and calling it quits over and over that experience the negative aftermath.
“The findings suggest that people who find themselves regularly breaking up and getting back together need to ‘look under the hood’ of their relationship to determine what’s going on,” Monk explains.
So if this sounds like you and your on-again, off-again partner, think long and hard before going through another cycle of breaking up. It may be time to walk away for good to protect your well-being.Source: New York Post