After A Breakup, This Is The First Person You Call
(Photo: Erin Yamagata)
Couples, take note: March is known as the breakup month. A FindLaw analysis conducted between 2008 and 2011 found that divorce filings peak this month, while an analysis of Facebook status updates pinpointed March (along with December) as prime breaking-up time. One possible explanation is that many couples are unwilling to face the holidays (including Valentine’s Day) solo, and so if they are headed for a split, they may postpone it until after the themed chocolate is cleared from the drugstore shelves and the mass-market-romance media messages die down.
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Still, breaking up, as they say, is hard to do — in March or any other month. To learn how Americans recover from lost love, Smartphone app LISTEN teamed up with opinion database YouGov between December 23 and 29 of last year to query 1,094 U.S. adults on their breakup habits.
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Apparently, of the 50 ways to leave your lover, an old-fashioned IRL conversation remains the most popular. Three out of four of those surveyed would break up with a partner face-to-face, while the remainder prefers a phone call. Then, directly after a breakup, we turn to our inner circle for solace.
Related: 15 Friend Breakups You Wouldn’t Have Survived
The top eight people we call after a breakup are a female friend (27%), Mom (17%), a sibling (10%), a male friend (10%), another family member (4%), Dad (2%), the person we just broke up with (2%), and an ex (1%). While friends and family are logical confidantes, we can’t say whether those who seek the comfort of “the person they just broke up with” are highly evolved or in denial. Then again, healing can come from unexpected sources — even, for example, from a healthy dwelling session.
By Hayley MacMillen
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