Did you know that knowing the emotional stages of a relationship break up can actually help you get through the obvious pain you’re experiencing and come out the other side a much stronger and positive person?

This is especially so for those going through their first major break up – that is, those recovering from the pain of being dumped from their first true relationship where they were completely and totally in love.

But that’s not to say that if you have already gone through this humiliating personal experience before that you wouldn’t benefit from actually knowing what the emotional stages are.

There are five basic stages you need to be aware of and it’s almost a case of them working in synergy as one crosses over into the other.

It’s also important to realize you shouldn’t try to shortcut the process. This can leave many unresolved “demons” which could lead to bitterness down the track and make you overly cautious.

There really is no shortcut to healing and these emotions are nature’s way of easing you through the process with as little scars as possible.

The 5 Break Up Emotions

1. And pain is the first of the emotional stages of a relationship breakup you’ll experience. It will come at you hard and fast. First, there’s a feeling of non-belief and when reality sets in, the pain can almost feel physical and affect the way you eat and sleep.

Wanting to be alone is natural but many times, the more you can release the pain the better you’ll feel.

2. The feeling of denial is a crucial step to work through. Too many times people let this linger too long. Thoughts that your ex will soon come to their senses and welcome you back with open arms is common and acting as if there’s nothing wrong is only delaying the healing process.

3. The feeling of anger usually follows denial and if you have any chance of getting back with your ex then this needs to be tempered. Irrational thinking can take over and this can be combine with irrational actions.

Be careful not to let anger rule your thinking. And be careful not to become bitter because this can definitely spill into future relationships.

4. Just like in death, grieving is a natural process but unnatural thoughts such as wanting to shut yourself off from the world, feeling insecure or unworthy or even wanting to end it all can overtake a person’s thinking during this stage. This is when it’s vital you have a shoulder or two to lean on.

5. The last of the emotional stages of relationship break up is acceptance and it will come when you finally declare to yourself that it really is over. Depending on how you handled the previous emotions you should be stronger in your resilience and actually learned from some of the mistakes you made in the previous relationship.

For many, it’s now time to think about the future rather than the past and you should be excited about what lies ahead.