The 7 Worst Ways To Break Up With Someone

In an ideal world, people should break up in a mature fashion. Mature here being that you actually have a face to face conversation. Break-ups are often messy because of all the feelings involved. Unfortunately, most break-ups due to the way they are handled end up being messier than necessary.

Here are some of the worst ways you can break up with someone and should therefore avoid. Please note however, that this is NOT for relationships that are ending because of serious issues like cheating and abuse. In such situations, you simply block the person.

1. Breaking Up Through Silent Treatment: This basically entails going quiet on the person you’re dating. Also known as ghosting. You stop communicating and actively ignore them. In fact, you avoid bumping into them and create a new schedule so that you don’t have to see them. When asked why you’re quiet or seemingly unavailable, you claim to be busy or going through ‘something.’ You hope that the silence will give a hint to the person you’re dating that you’re no longer interested and the relationship will fade away. If the person keeps asking what’s going on and you’re frustrated about it, you simply block them.

This is incredibly immature and shows a lack of respect for your girlfriend/boyfriend, for your relationship and for yourself. If you want it to be over, simply let the person you’re dating know so they can also move on as you have.

2. Breaking Up Via The Phone: Unless they live in another country or town and you will not be seeing them for a long time, this is a bad way to end things. It’s one thing to do it over a telephone call which is at least a conversation, and another to send a text message especially the kind that reads, “It’s over.” Then after you have sent the text message, you switch off your phone. If you do keep your phone on, you act like they’re complete ‘psychos’ for being angry and hurt. Again, very disrespectful.

3. Breaking Up Via Social Media: The Facebook Generation is an interesting one. Relationships are official when one’s relationship status changes and in the same vein, are over when ‘single’ is ticked. You go on Facebook and change your relationship status from ‘In A Relationship’ to ‘Single’ and the person you’re dating should know it’s over. It’s as ‘simple’ as that.

Facebook is awful as most friends on there are family members and actual friends so it’s pretty embarrassing and hurtful. There are those who take it a step further and mud sling each other on Twitter. This always ends really badly and makes moving on difficult as you have an audience of thousands or even millions that will be ever reminding you of the not so awesome end to your relationship. Don’t do this. You’ll regret it and it’ll only make you look bad to people who are not your friends and are more than happy to make fun of your pain. If you must vent online, subarus exist for a reason. Of course there is an exception to this rule if there is abuse involved. Call out the person if you so wish.

4. Breaking Up Through Family or Friends: You send your sister or brother or best friend to tell your boyfriend/girlfriend that it’s over.

This is really disrespectful and also puts your family member or friend in an awkward position. Unless you’re in primary or high school and have yet to realize the importance of respecting people’s hearts, this reeks of cowardice.

5. Blaming Parents For The Break-Up: You met them up to tell them you want to break-up but instead of owning up to the fact that you want a break-up you, you blame it on your family. “They just don’t like you so there’s nothing I can do.”

If you really want to be with someone, you will. This is an excuse so that you don’t look like the ‘bad guy’. You may think you’re being nice but false niceness isn’t being nice at all.

6. Breaking Up Through Radio: You call a radio station and have them call your boyfriend/girlfriend and dedicate a break-up song to them. Some people even go farther and have the radio host break up with the person on their behalf.

This is truly horrible. Why embarrass someone on national radio? Immature and callous.

7. Deliberately Frustrating Someone Into A Break-Up: You have tried everything and it just isn’t working out. So you begin to act badly in the hope that they’ll get tired of it and break-up with you.

This is manipulative and immature. You may not want to be labelled ‘the bad guy’ but you’re one for playing mind games like these. If you’re the type to also carry with a victim story of ‘I didn’t do anything and they just broke up with me’, after this kind of  manipulative break-up, that’s despicable.

Bonus:

8. Faking Your Own Death: You really want out but don’t have the maturity to do it, so you fake your own death. Someone actually did this! What can I say? It’s way too much trouble for something that can simply be said.

Break-ups are messy and difficult and uncomfortable. This shouldn’t stop us from being mature about them. A lot of people don’t want to be ‘the bad guy’ and go to great lengths to avoid actually facing the hurting party especially when the reason they want to break up is because they have fallen for someone else. So they play games and go round in circles to avoid admitting it. These people usually have overlapping relationships and you can never quite tell when the old relationship ended and the new one started. It’s unfair to treat someone with disrespect and expect them not to be hurt. They’re not ‘crazy’ or ‘psycho’. They’re simply hurt and have a right to be.

At the end of the day, we must acknowledge that break-ups hurt because there are hearts involved and we must treat people’s hearts with the respect and care they deserve. Do not be the reason that someone’s heart is so badly broken that they cannot love again. If it’s not working, let them know. Be honest and then be on your way and let the person you’re breaking up with deal with only the necessary pain and not an additional load from your inconsiderateness. If they were worth dating, they’re worth breaking up with respectfully.

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