Promising Study Results for Curing a Broken Heart

If you’ve ever gone through the emotional pain of a relationship break-up, you likely experienced love trauma syndrome (LTS). At the height of the crying and the depths of the depression, you probably wished there was a way to just end the heartbreak so you could get on with your life.

You may not be surprised to learn that there is a link between the emotions you feel after a bad breakup and what you experience after the death of a loved one. The death of a relationship and the death of a human both involve the same region of your brain and may initiate a similar pattern of emotions commonly referred to as the grief cycle.

But what happens if you get stuck in that emotional turmoil. Aside from being painful, it can be dangerous to experience prolonged depression and insomnia. One symptom of LTS is a greater risk of suicide.

A recent study concluded that stimulating the brain with a mild electrical current reduced symptoms of LTS. The study required 36 participants experiencing LTS to wear a headset for 20 minutes, twice a day for five days. The subjects were divided into three groups: one group received stimulation to the dorsolateral area of their prefrontal cortex, another to the ventrolateral area of the prefrontal cortex, and a third received no brain stimulation at all.

The results of this small study showed that stimulating either area of the prefrontal cortex reduced LTS symptoms, but dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation was significantly more effective than the other. Before this information can be used in actual treatments, the study results need to be replicated in larger trials.

The prognosis may be that future heartbreak will be healed in your head.