How to Fix a Broken Heart (TED Books) Hardcover – February 13, 2018

Offers good perspective for my recent heart break. I've lost a dog, a boyfriend, and my dad. I found this short read quite interesting to know how our body physically responds to an achey heart.It didn't fix my broken heart, but it did help me recognize why I was responding the way that I was, and how to take healthy steps so as not to trigger unhelpful emotions. I think this is a good read for anyone, even if only to understand other people and their heartache better. Heartache shouldn't be taboo.

For those who have experienced heartbreak this book will provide a powerful guide out of the morass. Winch makes a strong point that heartbreak, as debilitating as it can be, is not treated with the same compassion as other losses and so the heartbroken are left to flounder. He also explains how a lot of what we do only compounds the misery 0 things like checking our exes social media or trying to figure out exactly what went wrong when, or what would have saved the relationship. One of his pieces of advice is to balance the view of the person whom you have probably idealized by listing out all their negative traits as well as the bad incidents in the relationship. This is not to vilify the person but simply to provie appropriate balance against the fantasy you have created - fantasies can't lose. It's also a fascinating revelation how heartbreak has a lot of similarity with drug addiction (and physical pain), based on brain scans, as the heartbroken seek a fix of their beloved. Probably underrated are the incredibly powerful illustrations in the book that starkly capture the various stages of heartbreak grief.

I think the author makes great points but to me the book fails to emotionally motivate the reader to get past the emotional grief. This is more of an intellectional speech, than a catalyst to get past the heart ache.

The book is extremely helpful when you go through a very painful heartbreak. Lots of good points and advice. The author has lots of empathy and can describe very accurately what one can feel when going through a heartbreak. However, as a 51 years old who was married for 24 and whose life's partner took off with no warnings, I wished the author would have given some others advice aimed at this kind of situation. Of course a heartbreak is a heartbreak no matter what, but I imagine it takes much longer to recover from a 24 years relationship than a 9 months or even a couple years.This is being said I certainly recommend the book.

Quality product, I do recommend it!

It’s such a great book for anyone dealing with heartbreak! Exactly what I needed to read and it’s very helpful

I bought this book after hearing the TED Radio Hour on falling in and out of love. One of the segments was with Guy Winch and many of the points he made resonated with me.Guy focused on two types of heartache: the broken heart that comes from the loss of a romantic love interest; and the loss of pets. Guy chose these two because our societal structure allows much less social and institutional support and compassion than say divorce or the loss of a loved one, even though the emotional distress may be just as large. He points out that effective coping and processing techniques are rightfully more important in these cases because one's support network is smaller.While I agree with all his points, as I read it became obvious that there is general applicability to these techniques to ANY form of loss or hurt. And as I read I saw in myself many of the bad habit I've learned that have made resolving past hurts of all types difficult or impossible.While there is no guarantee that I will be able to effectively use all the wisdom contained in this book, I have no doubt that I will be much more self-aware and much less self-deceptive as I deal with disappointment, heartache and loss in life. Not just the challenges of today, but those from my past that are not fully closest, as well as those tomorrows events that have yet to make their mark.I've already asked my wife to read it, and I'll see if I can get my kids to read it too. They're both young teens and are just starting to deal with the emotions of adolescence. I with I'd had these tools when I was younger!

Not sure what I was expecting realizing this book combined examples of a romantic broken heart and losing a pet, but after reading for pet loss purposes I felt a bit "meh". Here and there were great reminders to not get stuck in negative loops or thoughts and behaviors that aren't productive, but I think it's too big a divide to try to blend feelings of romantic rejection and those of losing a beloved pet. Perhaps one direction or the other would make for a more focused read. While I realize there are crossover concepts, I felt a bit bored reading about the situations that didn't at all apply for my purposes. That said, not a complete waste by any means and did serve as a proactive tool to care for myself following the profound grief after losing a pet I had for 14 years.