One of the worst news a person can hear while nursing a heartbreak is that their ex, the one that just broke their heart, is in a new relationship within a short period of the breakup. You begin to wonder if they really loved you at all and why they were able to move on so fast.
Before wallowing in your misery, you should consider that they might be in a rebound relationship: the type which one gets into immediately after a breakup to ease the hurt.
Now that you’re wondering how to tell if they are in a rebound relationship, we have put together some signs that may indicate it.
When did the relationship begin?
It has been proven that humans typically need time to grieve after a loss. One way of escaping this grieving period after a heartbreak is by going into another relationship without getting over the hurt of the breakup of the last one.
A month is about the average time a person needs to nurse a heartbreak, although some persons can get over heartbreaks in a shorter time. However, when your ex’s new relationship starts a few days or about two weeks to the breakup, chances are it is a rebound one.
The timeline of the new relationship is one of the surest ways of telling if it is a rebound relationship because they are known for kicking off a lot sooner than expected.
Who is the new partner?
For rebound relationships, there is a high tendency that the new partner is someone who was already in your ex’s life when you were together, maybe as a friend or colleague. It such happens that in the time after the breakup, they seek succor in that person who helps them nurse their wounds.
In the process of helping them heal, an unexpected relationship breaks forth. So, if the new partner is someone in their circle who they can readily develop fleeting affections for, then there is a higher chance that they’re in a rebound.
Does the new partner seem like an “upgrade” of you?
With a rebound relationship, your ex will most likely want to “step up” by getting involved with someone who is like you, and, to them, is an upgrade. Because losing you still hurts them, they tend to cloud the hurt by going into a relationship with someone with similar features to you, maybe their way of consoling themselves with another version of you.
Does your ex try to rub the new relationship in your face?
People in rebound relationships tend to overly flaunt them. That is their way of showing you and everyone else that they’ve moved on and got a “better” deal.
They may consciously make efforts to ensure that you’re aware of the new relationship and how “amazing” this new person is.
Rebound relationships are some of the most inconsistent ones, and if your ex is in one, it clearly shows that they have not gotten over you.