When a major relationship your are in comes to an end is there and excpected “mourning period?”
If there is one, is there an agreed upon length of time it should last?
Or, lastly, is this question totally dependant on the situation of the break?
I firmly believe that the “mourning period” depends not only on the situation surrounding the breakup but also the dynamics fo the realtionship itself. Since you stated a major relationship, there must be some sort of mourning period but everyone handles breakups in their own manner.
I for instance, just broke up with my boyfriend, of what would have been three months today, last week. While I miss him, the mourning period is over, or as I like to put it, my funk has been lifted. I think it was easy for me because of my personality and the fact that I have so much to fill my time that I can’t really dwell on it. Others however may take a lot longer. All in all, it depends on the person.
Can’t give you a cite, but I’ve heard it said you may be expected to mourn half of a serious relationship’s timeframe.
But I was married 12 years and I probably only seriously mourned for a year or so. I did have lots of support and several months of therapy, so according to Cyn’s Mourning Method, that’s one month for every year you were together…that seems a little light…and I think a sudden break-up would be more traumatic than a slowly dying marriage…
I don’t know.
But I hope you stop hurting soon.