5 Ways to Stop Reminiscing about the Good Times with a Toxic Ex

You’re likely under the influence of many cognitive biases.

Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash

You know your ex is toxic. But you can’t stop thinking about the good times with them. You’re teary when you hear a breakup song on Spotify, thinking about all the ways your ex gave you butterflies.

Before you know it, you feel tempted to contact your ex again, knowing full well it’d only end in heartbreak.

Don’t worry. Thinking about your ex, especially one that you had strong feelings for, is absolutely normal and common.

It doesn’t help that the pop culture you’re consuming isn’t created by the most emotionally healthy and intelligent people — they romanticise toxic relationships in digestible and addictive ways, making it terribly easy to give in to your emotions.

Here are 5 ways to stop reminiscing about the good times with a toxic ex and move forward with your life:

1. Allow yourself to think and feel.

Thoughts and feelings enter our mind and body all the time; we don’t have to police ourselves every time the unwanted ones come. Especially if the breakup is still fresh, you’re prone to be thinking about your ex as your brain goes back to what’s familiar and…