I can’t help but wonder what is it about a break-up that makes
us emotionally unstable and irrational. We’ve all been there and
we’ve all felt it.

The pain, at first, is intolerable and overwhelming. But, for a
few, it pushes them over the edge.

At what point do we forsake the average grieving process and
enter the realm of psychosis?

For most of us, the break-up is a normal process. Yes, seeing
your ex is awkward and often painful. Yes, you call and hang up, or
vice-versa.

It’s all part of the very undefined process of a break-up. But
occasionally you end up with a psychotic ex — you know what I’m
talking about.

It’s the one who shows up unannounced at your apartment. It’s
the one who calls 10 times a day and waits for you after class.

It’s the one who seems to hear about every place you were the
night before and every member of the opposite sex that you’ve been
within 10 yards of. And then he or she gets mad at you for it, as
if he or she is still entitled to do so.

I just don’t get it. What happens in the brain of the psycho ex
that drives him or her to such extremities?

Sometimes I think they just don’t understand what a break-up
means. When it’s over, it’s over. Move on.

Then I think again and I realize that they do understand, and
that’s the problem. It’s the thought of the relationship being over
for good that scares them to death and then pushes them over the
edge.

It is this thought that makes them go, well, psycho.

If you’re dealing with a psycho ex, I feel your pain. Although I
will admit they make for very entertaining stories, they’re
miserable to deal with.

I dated a guy in high school who went psycho after we broke up.
Three months after the break-up, he showed up unannounced to the
place where my friends and I went for Spring Break.

No, this wasn’t Florida, either.

The guy bought a plane ticket to the Cayman Islands two days
before he left, came, and slept on the beach.

Yes, it really happened, and I am still in disbelief. One of my
friends had an ex who drove 12 hours cross-country to show up at
her dorm room, to try to catch her with another guy. And yes, they
had already broken up.

If you find yourself doing such things, I have one question to
ask you: Have you given any thought whatsoever to your
reputation?

Are you aware of how your actions are perceived by others? If
you find yourself with a psycho ex who just won’t get the point, I
can’t offer much advice, but I will say this: Cut off all contact
with them, at least until they get the point.

Sometimes it takes you being the stronger person for them to
cope. It’s hard to avoid them, but you simply have to. Otherwise,
you might be driven to the point of mania as well.