BREAK-UPS are hard enough without you losing sleep, good sense, and your sanity over them, but this is exactly what happens more often than not. No matter how tough we are and whether we were deeply invested or not, more than likely a break-up — especially one we weren’t prepared for — will hit us hard.

The people below say their relationships broke up in the worst ways possible, and these are their stories.

Candice, 27:

He had a girlfriend when I first moved into the house next door to him, and after they broke up we started dating. We were together for two years, and then one day, out of the blue, he sent me a text saying that he was leaving me to be with a girl he had been corresponding with for a while, who happened to be the best friend of his ex. When I asked him why, he said he couldn’t resist because her boobs were bigger than mine. I was 21 years old then, and to this day I’m still deeply hurt by the indignity of it all.

Shayna, 30:

He left to go on a work programme and when he came back he said he had met a woman he was more compatible with, and planned to marry her. In the meantime, he wouldn’t move out of the house we shared because we had bought it together and he didn’t want to lose his investment. So, for a full year and a half, I had to share space with this man who ignored me and what I was going through emotionally, while he waited for his papers to come through and make a new life with this girl. To add insult to injury, karma didn’t even hit him, because they’re still happily married with kids, living in surburbia, while I’m here miserable.

Kimeshia, 33:

We were living together and one Saturday I was home cleaning when his parents showed up with a moving truck to collect his things. His mom was the one who told me that he was leaving me — I had no clue we were even having problems. He has never communicated directly with me, nor explained. I just had to stand there and watch them take his things and leave me to figure out how I’d manage on my own.

Paul, 40:

My girlfriend moved to a small island for a job and about six months after, once she had settled in, she booked a flight for me to visit her. We had planned to do the long distance thing so that was my first of many visits planned. I visited and she showed me around, and I had a great time. When I returned to Jamaica she sent me an e-mail to say that she had met someone else, and we wouldn’t work out — no warning, nothing. Ironically, when she returned to Jamaica after two years, with a brand new baby and no babyfather, she e-mailed me again asking if we could talk. I just blocked her.

Craig, 23:

She told my friend to tell me that it wasn’t working out — she couldn’t even tell me to my face. My friend made the announcement in front of a group of our other friends, and I had to stand there in front of all of them, wheezing, because my asthma flared up right away, and it was like I was having body-come-down at the same time.