Studies show that your brain registers the emotional pain of heartbreak in the same way as physical pain, which is why you might feel like your heartbreak is causing actual physical hurt. She was an influencer/youtuber with a pretty large following, and it would be so easy for me to google her name right now and see a lot of things that would really, really hurt me. We broke up over one of those ‘life is forcing us apart’ things, if circumstances had been different I think we’d still be together. I fight the urge to do that every time I sit in front of a keyboard. A … According to research, physical pain stimulates the sensory and affective (emotional) regions of the brain, so there is some overlap, whereas heartbreak stimulates just the affective regions of the brain. The language we use to describe heartbreak – “I feel like my heart’s been ripped out”, “it was gut wrenching”, “like a slap in the face” – all hint at the way we associate physical pain with emotional pain. Originally Answered: Why does a heartbreak hurt so bad? You either get really heavy or really thin. Heartbreak really hurts, scientists agree Heartbreak can be such an intense experience that some scientists suggest it feels the same as physical pain. But I do know she quickly moved on with someone else. First thing my mum said to me after we broke up was, “this would have been easier for you if he wasn’t so great”. Why does it hurt so much? So, when we say heartbreak "hurts like hell," you know it actually hurts.