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When a relationship ends, you often don't need to be told to block the ex-partner. In the heat of the moment, as you struggle to come to terms with the situation, you might ponder blocking them.
Here's why you should not block them and how to use that to your advantage.
1. You retain your dignity
When you're hurt, your first reaction is to put distance between yourself and the source of the pain. However, when it comes to human social structures, especially if your ex is not mature or the relationship has been bad, it becomes a show of who hurts more. It's all about the ego coming out on top. When you block them, in most cases it will fuel their ego.
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Most importantly, it victimises you. While you are rightfully hurting, you are not a victim. If your ex is mature and you have a great degree of trust between you, you can talk them about how the break up is affecting you.
2. You might get closure
There's no shame in keeping up with what they are doing going by their social media. Seeing how they are dealing with the break up might give you some modicum of closure.
Be careful to not read into cryptic statuses or pictures, take everything at face value.
Remember that it is their way of either dealing with the break up or moving on.
This way, you are not working in the dark to get over them while wondering and fantasising about what he/she might be up to.
3. Reduces the mental and emotional stressing
We all know the break up and get back together cycle. It also happens over social media in the form of blocking someone and unblocking them intermittently.
If it is hard to cut ties immediately, once you fall in the unblocking cycle, it can make you feel worse. You might feel like you are unable to move on or they still have a hold over you.
Skip that phase by simply leaving them where they are.
If there's a chance of patching things up, the unblocking and blocking cycle might make you come off as unstable and too affected for any mending.
4. Regulate obsession
Secret stalking, asking friends what your ex is up to, incognito checks and fantasising about what your first encounter as exes will be like. These are some of the obsessions that can foster in trying to immediately cut ties.
Allow yourself to obsess a bit in secret.
5. Gives you time to process and heal
You can use their social media activity to track your healing and checking your emotional well-being. It can also help you understand why the relationship ended, what you liked and disliked about them as you see them in a new perspective.
It can also slow you down from getting into a new relationship too fast.
Plus, if they contact you, you might be in better state to engage with them or not respond.
Takeaway
Leaving an ex unblocked is essentially desensitising oneself from the effect of the break up or the person. However, it should be applied with other methods of healing and moving on. Spending time with friends, getting into new hobbies, taking care of yourself and focusing on the life ahead with new people and experiences.