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By Laura Lifshitz — Updated on Jan 20, 2023
There's an injured ego, there's disappointment, there's heartache... and then there's achy-breaky heartache to the ninth degree.
Those are the signs a guy's heart is broken, for good — or at least for a while.
You can tell by his demeanor. His look. His social habits and eating patterns. He's suffering from a broken heart — and suffering badly! You may have been heartless, or you may have tried your best to let him down easily.
No matter the reason, he's taken this as a serious injury and is struggling to recoup.
Whether you meant to or not, there are plenty of signs you broke his heart, even though you may not have intended to.
11 signs you broke his heart
1. He refuses to see you.
Does he avoid you or wherever you might be? Has he stopped going to places just in case you might be there? Has he told you, or have your mutual friends told you, that he can't see you and is avoiding you? He's broken.
2. He begs to have you back.
If he's still asking for you to come back to him and he sounds desperate or pleads, he is so completely crushed.
3. He acts cold around you.
Let's say you two are ending things or fighting. Or, let's say he runs into you, whether you have broken up or are fighting, and he's like ice. He's acting that way to protect himself. He's either majorly pissed or completely broken — or both.
4. He tells you how badly you've hurt him.
A man usually says what he means and means what he says despite how a woman tries to interpret or dissect it. So, if he goes out of his way to tell you how badly you've hurt him instead of letting his pride suck in his feelings like men often do, you've broken his heart completely.
5. He hasn't dated anyone since you last spoke.
Do your friends say he's "sworn off women"? Is he looking at all women like they're she-devils? You did it. You crushed his soul.
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6. Or, he's dating everyone in town.
The man who runs to fifty million women to fulfill his needs is either a total gigolo or a needy man looking to mask his pain. If he's dating anyone and everyone, even women that you know in a million years he would never date, he's trying to use sex and women as a coping method to get over you. It's not a good look or a healthy choice.
7. He makes depressing posts on social media.
Your friends saw his most recent cynical or depressed social media post. Each one is more sad-sack or negative than the other. He's become "King of the Women Haters" since you hurt him.
8. He's obsessive about fitness.
All he does is bench press and CrossFit his way to feeling better about the way you smashed his ego and heart. He's become a gym fanatic even if, when you knew him, his only physical mode was squatting on and off the couch to grab snacks.
9. He's started eating or drinking too much.
Your friends escorted him out of the bar. You spotted him and he looked like he had been going a bit too hard on the burgers. If he's engaging in any behavior "too much," he's using it to cope.
10. He can't talk to you without becoming angry.
Every time you two happen to engage, whether it's a brief passing by or a conversation, he's so mad you can feel his wrath. You know it's because he's hurting more than he can handle.
11. He's not eating or has withdrawn completely.
You hear he's not socializing anymore. He's lost weight. He's not talking to mutual friends. His depression is a clear indicator of serious heartbreak.
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Laura Lifshitz writes about divorce, relationships, women's issues, and parenting for the New York Times, Women's Health, Working Mother, PopSugar, and more.