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Why Ending a Situationship Hurts So Much More Than a Long-Term Breakup

It’s not just you, there’s science behind situationships sucking.

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Have you ever wondered why it’s harder to get over your toxic, short-lived situationship than your healthy, loving, long-term relationship? (If you can’t relate, consider yourself lucky.)

Time and time again, I scroll on TikTok and hear countless stories from daters claiming they’re more distraught over someone who won’t actually commit to them than they are over a breakup with someone they thought was “the one.” For a while, I couldn’t fathom why, exactly, this might be. That is, until I researched the science behind this phenomenon—and experienced it myself.

Here are three reasons a situationship breakup might hit harder than an actual relationship ending.

1. You’re Grieving What Could Have Been

Oftentimes, situationships trigger grief over potential. Because we never got the chance to see things through with the person, we might get stuck in a “what if?” scenario.

“In my clinical work as a relationship therapist, I see situationships are........

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