The fastest way to get over someone is to get on with someone else, right? Well... maybe. While it may work that way for some people, a rebound relationship isn’t always a good idea, says Anjali Mehra, a relationship therapist from Mumbai. And, it’s definitely not a necessary part of moving on.
“Just like there’s no one right way to have a relationship, there’s no one right way to get through a break-up. So, the benefits of a rebound relationship for one person might be the exact thing that makes another feel worse. It all depends on the reasons you want to have a rebound relationship,” Anjali says.
A person might be considered on the rebound if he or she becomes involved in a relationship that shortly follows the ending of a previous one, according to Psychology Today.
Kolkata-based clinical psychologist Aparna Sengupta points out that usually a rebound immediately follows either a debilitating heartbreak or a relationship that felt mind-numbingly stagnant, after either of which, to suddenly have even a low level attraction to someone can feel transcendent when compared to the hell you just crawled out of.
“If someone is giving themselves the space they need to feel their feelings about the break-up, to process the relationship status change and loss of a partner, and communicate this clearly to their rebound partner, then it can be a helpful part of the break-up process,” Aparna says, adding, “Essentially, you have to go into it with good intentions, not because you want to get back at your ex or prove to your friends that you’re over the break-up.”
On the flip side, a rebound relationship isn’t a good idea if you’re using it to escape your emotions, Anjali says.
“If someone is using a new love interest as a way to avoid processing their feelings or doing self-care, if they aren’t being clear with their new someone about what their equation is, then a rebound relationship can feel depleting and empty,” Anjali she says.