Think about if we treated broken hearts using the same respect and concern we’ve for broken hands? Psychologist Guy Winch urges us to rethink just how we cope with emotional pain, providing warm, smart, and witty advice for the broken-hearted.

Real heartbreak is definitely unmistakable. We think of nothing at all else. We experience nothing else. We value nothing else. Yet while we wouldn’t anticipate someone to go back to daily activities soon after struggling a damaged limb, heartbroken people are likely to about How to Fix a Broken Heart function normally in their lives, regardless of the emotional pain they feel. Now psychologist Man Winch imagines how various things will be if we paid even more attention to this original emotion—if only we can know how heartbreak functions, we can start to repair it.

Through compelling research and brand-new scientific tests, Winch reveals how and why heartbreak impacts our brain and our behavior in dramatic and unpredicted ways, regardless of our age. Emotional discomfort lowers our capability to reason, to think creatively, to problem solve, and to function at our best. In How exactly to Repair a Broken Center he focuses on two types of psychological pain—intimate heartbreak as well as the heartbreak that outcomes from the increased loss of a valued pet. These encounters are both followed by severe grief responses, however they aren’t deemed as important as, for example, a formal divorce or the loss of a close comparative. As a result, we tend to be deprived from the recognition, support, and compassion afforded to those whose heartbreak is considered more significant.

Our heart may be broken, but we don’t need to break with it. Winch reveals that dealing with heartbreak always begins having a decision, a determination to move on when our brain is fighting to maintain us stuck. We are able to take control of our lives and our thoughts and place ourselves in relation to healing. Winch presents a toolkit on how to handle and deal with a broken heart and how to, eventually, move ahead.