Research published in US magazine, The Journal of Positive Psychology¹, found that it takes 11 weeks to feel the beneficial effects of a relationship split.

 

This follows previous findings that it could take up to six months to be able to move on.

 

Gary Lewandowski and Nicole Bizzoco of Monmouth University, New Jersey², questioned 155 people who had been through a break-up in the last six months.

 

They found that 71 per cent of people began to see the positives in the split in just a short period of time.

 

Those who've made it through the initial three months after a break are described as having left 'the recovery zone', a period of painful adjustment and healing.

 

Lewandowski and Bizzoco found that people started to feel better about themselves and developed strong coping strategies beyond the 11 week mark.

 

However, this research may only apply to short term relationships. A different study that questioned how long it would take couples to get over a divorce found the time frame was significantly longer.

 

Dating site Fifties.com found that it takes an average of 18 months to get over a marriage breakdown³, which is six times longer than Lewandowski and Bizzoco's estimate.

 

This may be because a marriage is considered a more serious commitment. Of those questioned by the website one in six said they found it hard to deal with the feelings of failure.

 

And while 43 per cent of people said that they felt a sense of relief when their divorce came through 31 per cent said that they still felt a sense of sadness.

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