{"id":150428,"date":"2023-02-14T13:31:42","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=150428"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:39","slug":"why-a-broken-heart-hurts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/02\/14\/why-a-broken-heart-hurts\/","title":{"rendered":"This is why a broken heart hurts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pain of romantic rejection, a broken heart, is similar to physical pain. This has been demonstrated by the research of Freddy van der Veen, associate professor of Clinical Psychology. A broken heart activates the pain network in the brain and slows the heart rate. Fun fact: paracetamol might help reduce the pain.<\/p>\n

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Second-year Business Administration student Rayyan (20) can still remember exactly how it felt when his relationship ended last year. \u201cIt felt like I was in some kind of hell\u201d, he says. He and his girlfriend had entered into a relationship in secondary school and had been together for three years. When his then girlfriend decided to study in Cologne, Germany, Rayyan chose Erasmus University so that he could see her relatively often. \u201cBut in her opinion, a long-distance relationship didn\u2019t work\u201d, he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t see each other as often as we wanted to and couldn\u2019t make much time for each other because of our studies.\u201d That is why she ended the relationship.<\/p>\n\n\t

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