Love Hurts... No, Really, it HURTS: New Study Links Rejection to Physical Pain

J.O., if you haven't experienced that kind of pain, then you've never really been in love.

I remember when my first love dumped me. The pain was excruciating. I remember feeling a constant pain in my solar plexus, like my heart was literally breaking. Nearly 35 years later, it still hurts to think about it.

Love hurts either way, mentally and physically. Say you get into an argument and harsh words were said, I'll feel angry and sad at the same time, and my heart would hurt and stomach would feel weird.

OMG this is so true! i have felt terrible since my boyfriend just went all MIA and didnt know what was wrong with him... and the thought that he may want to break up (which we have talked about) kills me, its so depressing...

WRONG. Your thought about rejection causes you pain. When you forget about being rejected, then you immediately stop hurting, but you still have been rejected.

Here's another example:
Late at night when I am up alone, when I inadvertently make noise, I feel a pang of needle-like pain all over my stomach, because I try to be quiet. It feels like a thousand needles all at once. Likewise when I watch my little girls running down the driveway, I feel the same sensation if I think of them falling down. Ohh there is it again(!)

Only your thought causes pain. Like stress, it is impossible for anyone to make you stressed. You stress yourself out. Think about it. Deeply. Its true.

Anyone who watches House knows this is true :)

Yes.......it's so true. You could actually feel the brokenness when you love someone so much and want to be with them. Like when you miss him sooo bad you feel like your dying inside and you cannot eat or sleep.

yep - what experienced woman didn't know this?! b------ s - can't live with em - can't live without em.

Sorry I say this becuase my whole entire life I have been rejected and not one time have I been accepted for who I am. Not trying to go all emo here but I can confidently say that with all that build up of pain it hurts worse then any physical pain ive been through and ive been in surgery three times.
I say this through experience, that type of pain is worse then anything else I have felt.

No really, you think. Does it really take a researcher to make people believe that it actually physically hurts. God I've lost hope for people today.

I've always believed this. I have had periods in my life (not necessarily in the break-up moment) when I've thought of the person or the rejection and I would get pain sensations in my chest, arms, and fingers. In my hands it was a bit like what I imagine arthritis to be. 'Tis true...

wel i hve jst been rejected by dis guy ui really love.... al i wana do is get rid of the pain.... which is not easy :(

I never knew until that moment how bad it could hurt to lose the man I loved..advised to you ladies love your man, do not question all his actions, learn to trust and believe in him, because jealousy could be the end of all that is good in a relationship, believe me it happend to me....

I know what it's like to feel physically ill after a break-up. Intestinal discomfort, can't sleep or eat, unable to control tears and that awful empty feeling in the pit of your stomach. Not to mention a badly damaged ego and inability to trust anyone. This is real, at least for me. It's terrible that we endure this because of what someone else did to us. I guess the key factor is never to let anyone have such control over your emotions. There are too many heartless SOB's out there....next relationship I have, you can bet I won't put so much feeling into it that it will leave me with none left for myself. As far as the man who did this to me, he'll get his turn, what goes around - comes around!

Slightly different take,
I've noticed that among the older crowd, if the spouse who survives when the other passes away has had a long history of physical pain they seem to suffer less emotional pain at their loss.
It was very much so with my mother and several of her neighbors. All the surviving spouses had suffered physical pain many years ahead and they coped much better than other couples where the surviving spouse had been relatively pain free before the death.
I also have a friend who nearly died when the spouse left for someone else. It was horrible to observe since it was impossible to treat medically and yet the symptoms were real.

its so true and i experienced it myself right after the day i found out that my boyfriend cheated on me with my friend the next day i hardly could get out of bed....and still after 2 months i'm still loosing weigh and i think its feeling a lot worse than spilling coffee on yourself ... but in the end you just learn that you deserve something else and the world wont end since its already morning in Sydney :)

Yes, it can put you into a deep depression and make you numb to living. You will be alive but just going thru the motions each day. You feel like your life is over. You'll feel trapped and not know how to get out of the deep dark hole your in. You think that no one would ever love you. You feel worthless. You'll gain weight and not take care of yourself. Your body will hurt just to get out of bed each day and face the world again. Then someone or something will come into your life and you'll awaken and pull yourself out of that hole, dust yourself off and get on with you life. Live, Love, Dance, Sing, Enjoy your Gift of life...

While walking at a local park I saw a young couple wrestling and chasing one another. That they were in love was more than obvious. As I rounded my turn again they will still playing and a friend was taking their picture. I heard the girl squeal "I love having my picture taken."
Love in full innocence was on display, and I thought of Romeo and Juliet. When love is so new and fragile can heartbreak be far behind.
What would happened to break the bond they forged so youthfully. Or was the serpent already in the garden?
The camera was a seerer of all their joys, would it also be a destroyer of all their dreams.
That their breakup would hurt caused my heart to skip a beat and I was tempted to caution the couple.
But to what end? No one knows their future. As I passed their giggling, flailing bodies one last time I felt sad as the camera recorded the present all too clearly for me.

Doesn't surprise me at all, and it's not just rejection that can do it. After my first breakup, my stomach hurt so bad that I was actually physically ill for a week or so, like having a bad flu. Situations that i know are tensed and strained also make me ill when I think about them, like that Person you just can't stand to be around because you know there's going to be drama.

I still think its all just mental..if you put it past you it can't cause pain..I've personally NEVER took medication for a unwanted breakup and I've been thru some real greasy situations. Its not the same as spilling hot coffee on your self..that s--- really hurts lol where as heartache may feel like it...theres a difference i think.. They say it causes physical pain but I jus cant believe that...Whats next? Prescribe Meds for it?..Cmon now!!! get over it and move on..things happen for reason!! #ventover