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Dear Poll: After a Breakup, Do You Prefer to Talk or Cut Off All Ties?

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 4:00pm by DearSugar
1,691 Views - 39 comments

There's no doubt about it, breakups are tough. Some people stay in their relationships longer than they should and others cut straight to the point and end things when they know it's not meant to be — since there's no right way, I say to each their own. But since ending a long-term romantic relationship can feel somewhat like a death, some couples try to hold onto whatever they can as a way to ease into single life. I've always been a cold turkey kind of breakup-er myself, but what about you? Do you prefer to take the friend route after the breakup or is cutting off all communication your preferred method?

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39 Comments Add a Comment

  • Tami715's picture
    Tami715
    1

    Absolutely cut all ties. Cold turkey. Sorry, but once it's over, you're dead to me Smiling

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • zabrow's picture
    zabrow
    2

    i cut all ties completely, at least for a few months. after that we can talk & be friendly, but we won't be friends that hang out & do things together. it's the quickest way to get over someone.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • karlotta's picture
    karlotta
    3

    Dear, would you mind checking your spelling? I'm sorry, it makes me cringe!

    Lesson the blow? Argh.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • Bettyesque's picture
    Bettyesque
    4

    I think it depends on the relationship. I mean sometimes you are better as friends Smiling

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • Sun_Sun's picture
    Sun_Sun
    6

    cold turkey
    dont believe in exes as friends
    unless it was something short and not very meaningful, then maybe
    but serious realtionships.no

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • RocknBabe's picture
    RocknBabe
    9

    If it ended badly, I delete them out of my contact book and cell phone. If we end mutually, I keep chatting with them on a friend basis. I have jealousy issues so it's usually best for me to cut people out.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • klasiklove's picture
    klasiklove
    10

    i hands down agree with sun_sun!
    cold turkey.

    and sporky, "don't sleep in your own vomit" bahhaha! funny! but it makes a point!

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • dior_show's picture
    dior_show
    11

    it completely depends on the realationship. In an ideal world i would love to stay friends with most, especially since they were such a big part of my life its hard to just let go of. But in the end, it is better to cut ties, at least until you know you can be friends and continuing to talk won't just make everything worse and draw out the break up. it just makes it that much more painful.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • ajennilynrushhh's picture
    ajennilynrushhh
    12

    For my ended relationships, we cut eachother out of our lives for awhile then like a year or two later, or so later we talk again and catch up a little bit. but we're not as close as before.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • mightyminx's picture
    mightyminx
    13

    I think it is easier for both sides if you break all contact, how can you really expect to get over someone if they keep calling you and vice versa?

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • jillerin457's picture
    jillerin457
    14

    Cut the cord, at least at the beginning! Friendship is a possibility in the distant future, but in the immediate aftermath, it's just too confusing.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • annebreal's picture
    annebreal
    15

    It completely depends on the nature of the breakup. I can say that there is definitely an ex that has been in and out of my life for several years and it's been horrible for me in every sense, and I'm finally cutting the cord, but a lot of them I'm still close with - it didn't happen the next day or anything, but we're friends now. Most of my relationships haven't ended on horrible terms, though, a lot were more or less a mutual understanding that the chemistry was off or something. I have a really hard time cutting all ties with anyone, you have to wrong me pretty severely for me to do that.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • honeysugar28's picture
    honeysugar28
    16

    I never maintained a friendship with an ex. I think once you cross that line from friend to attraction you can't really go back.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • MisterPinkNoTip's picture
    MisterPinkNoTip
    17

    It depends. If it's a bad breakup, then cut all ties. But if it's amicable, then I like to lay low for a while then we can become friends. That's how it's worked with a few of my ex's and it's great, because we have some mutual friends, and then it's not awkward when we run into each other.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • Asia84's picture
    Asia84
    18

    People who do that, "let's be friends" crap in the beginning, 9 times out of 10 end up screwing each other and having issues moving on.

    if i don't want to be around you anymore (romantically or platonic), it's cold turkey.

    i don't have time for the shenanigans.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • Ashlina's picture
    Ashlina
    19

    I don't know, usually I'm the type that's like ok, I'm done with you, but depending on the relationship, you could still be friends, it's hard though..

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • nevaeh1978's picture
    nevaeh1978
    20

    100% Cold turkey.

    Only once I tried to 'talk' and 'befriend' an ex, it's a HIGH school sweetheart and we were both young and foolish, so the break up was stringing for at least 2-3 months. UGH. I learned my lesson well after that, never again try the 'let's talk' method after a break up. It just confuses you.

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • lilwildone1202's picture
    lilwildone1202
    21

    in the past my break ups had been wishy washy...were we broken up? just takin a break....etc...

    the only ex that i had broken up with wouldnt except that we were broken up (he kept saying 'lets not jump there yet') so i had talked to most of my exs for at least a few weeks..

    once something is *really* over-- like you have that definitive moment where youre like 'screw this im done' then its def. cold turkey... like i dont even want to know youre alive cold turkey

    9 weeks 3 days ago Report Comment
  • kiwitwist's picture
    kiwitwist
    23

    get out while I can... if I talk then it is easier to just keep sticking around.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • brown_eyed_grrl's picture
    brown_eyed_grrl
    24

    "People who do that, 'let's be friends' crap in the beginning, 9 times out of 10 end up screwing each other and having issues moving on."

    Exactly. When a relationship was over, I'd delete his number from my phone and get rid of any reminders. I know some people like keeping mementos and such, but I throw it all out.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Lovely_1's picture
    Lovely_1
    26

    For the first couple of months = no talking.
    But then after awhile, when I am WAY over it, I usually start talking to them again...
    It NEVER leads to anything, and it's nice Smiling

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • RaCheer's picture
    RaCheer
    27

    100% cold turkey!!! My b/f doesn't understand this though...he says if we ever broke up he'd want to remain best friends. But I know that would only give me false hope that we might get back together. I would have to cut all ties! We've been together 5 years also so I think I'd have to move too...haha!

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • designerel's picture
    designerel
    28

    i can't be friends with exes. just the fact that we used to have an intimate bond and now we don't... that changes things. i don't speak to 3 of my exes at all, and the rest i talk to every once in a blue moon.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • Blackwood's picture
    Blackwood
    29

    mmm...

    not talking about actually being friends, but...

    if you can't at least kindly say hello and make some small talk with an ex, then mayble what you had was never worth it to begin with.

    it's just I feel that there's something wrong if you can't be at peace with someone that used to know you so intimately, it would be really sad to feel that you have to ignore someone whom you once had deep feelings for.

    but maybe that's just me.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • geebers's picture
    geebers
    30

    I understand that it would be sad to go from sharing this deep intimate bond to nothing but that is how I work. I can't be "just friends" - at least not until I am totally over it and moved on. But even then -what exactly can he offer me as a friendship anymore? We will always have that past relationship and in order to really move on - I think it has to done completely.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • burntpineapple's picture
    burntpineapple
    31

    i'd rather cut off all ties, but since we always hang out together, my friends get to know them as well. and then it's kinda hard to not see them everywhere :/

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • green eyed grin's picture
    green eyed grin
    32

    I think it's smartest to simply cut ties. I hate losing a friend but sometimes friendship just isn't possible after the line has been crossed into more than friends territory.

    Also it is very empowering to just say bye and forget the guy. Rather than hang on and end up having comfort sex or trying to make something work when we both know it never will.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • italianblonde's picture
    italianblonde
    33

    Break it all off!! My heart is broken, why keep twisting the dagger in my wound? I find it better to not speak to each other, though I am still friends with two of my exes after it all settled down.

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • jennjennnbubba's picture
    jennjennnbubba
    34

    I tend to maintain a civil relationship after the breakup. No necessarily friends per say but enough to be able to talk to each other and keep in touch occasionally

    9 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • JaimeLeah526's picture
    JaimeLeah526
    35

    I could never be friends with my ex because it would be too hard for me so I'd want to cut ties right away if I knew it was over. Otherwise, I'd just want to be with him and keep waiting for him to say he wanted to be with me.

    9 weeks 16 hours ago Report Comment
  • meaganma7x's picture
    meaganma7x
    36

    ummmm it depends who the guys is. and how long we were dating. and if we had sex or not

    8 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • GeeksDreamGirl's picture
    GeeksDreamGirl
    37

    Unless it was a really bad breakup, I try to maintain friendship with my exes, and am lucky to still call most of them friends. Smiling

    5 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • heidi girl's picture
    heidi girl
    38

    i completely agree with italian blonde. its too painful to keep talking to them. i need time to clear my head.

    5 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • chatoyante's picture
    chatoyante
    39

    Cutting ties for a year or so works for me, it's too painful...with time, though, I am usually surprised to find that I miss them as a friend (not as a lover).
    When it feels right to be friends, that can be an interesting experience - who knows you better than a former lover?

    5 weeks 9 hours ago Report Comment

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