Should You Block Your Ex? 5 Pros And 5 Cons of Blocking Them
Blocking your ex is the typical reaction everyone has when the relationship is over.
Unfortunately, there’s no one correct answer for this dilemma, as the circumstances for each separation are highly personal.
And if you end up reading this article, you might deal with this problem now and need some insights.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into each of the pros and cons of blocking your ex after separation.
You’ll get some clarity into navigating emotional turbulence after breaking up and cutting communication ties with your ex-partners.
Let’s start with the advantages of blocking your former partner.
The 5 Pros of Blocking Your Ex.
1. It creates space for you to heal emotionally.
Blocking your ex can provide the much-needed breathing space for emotional recovery after a breakup.
When you keep stalking your ex on social media, you might be exposed to the same behavior pattern from your ex that triggers you to keep thinking about your former partner.
It’s like sprinkling salt on an open wound, you get nothing but hurt.
By limiting information about your ex, you can begin to mend your heart and focus on your next step.
Solitude gives you plenty of space to feel your pain and express your feelings to the point the agony will subside.
Once you feel more like yourself again, you’ll get a fresh perspective on navigating the situation to move forward.
2. It forces you to focus on yourself.
Post-breakup, it’s so easy to overanalyze every mundane move your ex made, such as hanging out with friends, updating stories, or posting on social media.
Before you know it, you’re wasting your time wondering if your ex still thinks about you.
Let me give you a harsh truth: if you’re that important to your former partner, you’ll know it already.
Blocking your ex helps remove a source of a trigger of your emotional turbulence and gives you emotional space to focus on yourself.
Instead of dwelling on the past, now, you have all the time you need to rediscover yourself.
You can try new hobbies, travel, and do all the things that may have taken a back seat during the relationship.
This self-focus attitude will help you regain your strength and stabilize your emotions.
3. It gives you 100% control of the situation
Maintaining contact with your former partner sets you in a situation full of uncertainty.
Your ex can text you at any time, upload photos that trigger your emotions, or make you obsess about whether they move on or not.
The worst part is, if there’s something you don’t like, you have no right whatsoever to sort the situation.
You gain nothing from this kind of setup.
That’s why taking proactive moves like blocking your ex on social media and messenger apps firmly places you in the driver’s seat on what kind of information you want to consume.
Now, you’re no longer subject to your ex’s updates, which can be emotionally taxing, especially at the beginning of break up.
You can pick and choose the information that helps you gather your strength and move forward with your life.
4. It prevents mind manipulation
Breaking up can often leave you with an emotional roller coaster that leads you to make decisions you might regret in the future.
When you’re emotionally fragile, cutting off communication with your ex can be the best thing you can do for yourself.
If you feel like doing so, think, “What if he/she worries about me?”
Remember that if they really do, the breakup won’t be necessary in the first place.
This is a bitter pill to swallow, but that’s the truth.
Blocking your ex will save you from being manipulated, where your ex-partner will try to exploit your feelings, guilt-trip you, or use your emotions against you.
This will slow down your healing process immensely and waste your time.
At the end of the day, your life is your responsibility, so prioritize your recovery above everything.
5. It sets a fresh start for your new relationship.
When you cut ties with your ex, it’s not only leaving the past behind but also preparing for what’s coming.
You create a healthy environment to heal, grow, and make a better life in the future.
And when you finally have someone new, you might need to cut your contact with your ex anyway, so why don’t you do it earlier?
Blocking your ex signifies your commitment to prioritizing yourself and being ready to start a new life.
With the lesson you get from your previous relationship, you can have a clean slate with someone new and build a relationship based on trust and understanding rather than being weighed down by the past.
The 5 Cons of Blocking Your Ex.
1. You can’t be friends.
One of the most significant drawbacks of blocking your ex is losing a friendship.
In many cases, a romantic relationship starts from friendship, so when you block your ex-partner, it feels like you have lost two relationships at once.
This is even harder if you know your ex is initially a good person, it’s just that the romantic stuff doesn’t work for both of you.
But if you find your ex has a flawed personality at the core, cutting him/her off will be easy peasy because nobody wants a toxic friend anyway.
2. No chance of getting back together.
Blocking your ex will eliminate chances of reconciliation.
This can be a drawback for your situation if you’re still unsure about your feelings or hoping that the circumstances that led to the breakup might change in the future.
Another thing you need to consider is blocking your former partner can also mean it is harder to resolve the issue that led to the breakup.
Sometimes, it takes time to calm you and your ex down emotionally and see your breakup with a fresh perspective.
If the communication is still open, it could leave the door for a potential reconnection down the line.
However, if your break-up trigger is something that hurts you at your core, cutting the connection with your ex for good can be the best gift you can give to yourself.
3. You can’t expect any (mutual) support in the future.
When you block your former partner after the breakup, it’s a firm message that you’re alone.
However, life is unpredictable, and there may come a time when you or your ex need each other, especially if you share mutual friends, financial responsibilities, or even children.
You might need emotional support from someone who understands you inside out.
Cutting the communication entirely will give you no chance to support each other in any situation.
On the other hand, blocking your ex-partner will give you relief from the emotional turmoil right away.
You’re the one who knows what triggered the breakup initially, so if there’s no value in keeping a communication line with your ex, then cut the ties with no doubt.
4. Awkwardness among mutual friends.
As a romantic partner might come from a friend, it’s very possible you share mutual friends with your ex.
When you decide to block your ex-partner entirely, it might create an awkward situation among your mutual friends, torn between loyalty to both parties.
Remaining friends with your ex, or even if just as an acquaintance, can help ease the tension and make social gatherings more enjoyable.
Before blocking your ex, consider the impact on your shared social network for everyone’s sake.
If you rush cutting the ties off, you might end up isolating yourself from your circle, and this will keep you stuck in misery.
5. No chance of keeping memories.
If you’re in a relationship for a long time and you end up split with your partner, it will end up empty space in your life.
And when you decide to cut all the communication lines with your ex, it’s like losing a significant part of your life.
These memories you shared together serve as a record of your life journey, cutting them off can be soul-wrenching.
Before deciding to cut your ex out of your life, consider preserving some memories that are important to you.
You might find the middle ground where you can keep the beautiful memories while still moving forward with your life.
It’s a decision you must make carefully so that you don’t have regrets in the future.
Listen to Your Heart. Choose What’s Right for You.
At the end of the day, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in the chaos of navigating a break-up.
Whether you want to block your ex or maintain some communication is unique to your circumstances.
You need to listen to your heart on what’s best for you.
However, here are some things you need to consider to help you make the right decision:
- Always remember, your top priority is you. Focus on your healing process and aim to move forward for a better future.
- Your ex-character is what matters most in deciding how to navigate the after-breakup situation. If your ex-partner is a good person, things just don’t work between both of you, you might consider staying as a friend. But if you find that your ex has a character flaw you can’t tolerate, don’t hesitate to set firm boundaries by cutting the communication ties altogether.
- Know that this choice is not set in stone. When your pain is easing, you can change your decision later in life. You can set a strict boundary at the beginning of the breakup, and if you’re genuinely moving on and you have a sensible reason, you can reconnect with your ex.
Just remember: no matter your decision, we all hope both of you will push through the pain and come up on the other side with a better life.
Set your intention, make up your mind, and move on.
Trust the process that everything will be okay.
Wish you all the best!
Anggi Pradhini
Anggi Pradhini’s passion for writing a blog ignited after she experienced the pain of three breakups of long-term relationships. But as she rises from her pain, her three failed relationships make her way to rebuild her life in the right direction. In this blog, she wants to inspire people to bounce back from broken hearts and revamp their lives.
