If You’re Going Through a Breakup, Listen To This

If you or your friend is going through a breakup right now, this episode is for you. I want you to hear this carefully. Nothing is wrong with you. You're not weak for missing them. You're not dramatic for feeling this deeply.

And you're not failing at love because it hurts. What you're experiencing is grief. And most people don't realize this, but breakups don't just hurt emotionally. They activate the same neural pathways as physical pain and addiction withdrawal. Brain imaging studies from neuroscientist Helen Fisher show that romantic rejection activates the brain's reward system in the same way substance withdrawal does.

That's why your thoughts feel obsessive. That's why your body feels restless or exhausted. That's why logic doesn't seem to help. I'm sure so many of you right now, if you've been through a breakup, are wondering, why does my brain feel foggy? Why can't I just go back to work?

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (28 minutes, 4,628 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 10 episodes for $5, and monthly plans are cheaper still.