How to get over Christmas heartbreak

Breaking up is tough at any time of year - but Christmas has to be the worst.

It's the season to be jolly but that's hard to remember if you are devastated over a recent love split.

But you can get through the festivities without depleting local stores of their supplies of Kleenex.

Just follow our dos and don'ts:

Do

• Enlist the support of your friends. Even if they're all happy couples basking in a warm glow of togetherness, they will still want to cheer you up. So call them, make plans and drag yourself to their parties. It beats crying your eyes out alone watching It's A Wonderful Life
  
• Carry on with your plans for Christmas Day. Spending the day alone with a microwave meal for one will just make you feel more miserable
  
• Take any present you bought him back to the shop. Exchange it for something you really want, like a knockout dress. And if he insists on giving you a present, exchange that, too. Do you really want to be reminded of him every time you look at it?
  
• See in the New Year by getting away. For the newly broken-hearted, New Year's Eve can be a truly dismal night. Spending it alone is a guaranteed downer, as is going to the same pub as your ex, or being with all the couples you used to hang out with together

Don't

• Text him late at night after eight mulled wines. Once it's over, the only way to cope is to accept it. Weeping, wailing, pleading and pounding on his door in the early hours won't get him back
  
• Damage his property. It may be tempting to jump all over his Christmas presents, pour paint on his car or slash his best suit, but a) it's criminal and b) it'll only confirm that he's made the right decision. Plus everyone he tells will think he's had a lucky escape
  
• Try to compete with him for the love of friends and family. Attempting to get mutual friends to take sides will only backfire on you. If you are both holding Christmas parties on the same night, consider changing yours
  
• Get into the blame game. If your self-confidence is at rock bottom, stewing on the reasons he left will only hurt you more - and stop you from moving on
  

And never ever:

• Have a one-night stand as revenge. Odds are you'll regret it and feel even worse afterwards
  
• Pay him an unexpected visit. You don't know what you'll find and he almost certainly won't be pleased to see you
  
• Drown your sorrows in an orgy of retail therapy. It might be fun in December but the January credit card hangover will just make everything a hundred times worse

Source: The Daily Mirror