Everyone who's had their heart broken has felt, at some point, that no-one else could possibly have ever felt this sad.
Of course, it's not true (why do you think Adele wrote Someone Like You?), but there's a reason for all those songs and movies about break-ups; splitting up with someone you love really bloody hurts.
Some people split bitterly, if cheating or deception was involved. Others have broken up more amicably and agreed to stay in touch, but the struggle of trying to be friends with someone you still love has its own set of painful problems.
No matter how a break-up happens, it's almost always a terrible experience. However, scientists have now named the worst kind of split - and it's depressingly unsurprising.
A study from Cornell University, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that being pushed aside for someone else hurts a lot more than being rejected without a third party involved.
Interestingly though, the research was carried out amongst test candidates who were not in relationships with each other.
The study saw 600 people undergo experiments to find out which type of rejection hurt the most. In one experiment, men were placed with two women who worked with researchers. One woman was asked to choose a partner to help with a puzzle, and would sometimes choose the other woman in favour of the man.
Researchers also had people discuss the times they had felt rejected most.
In each experiment, people felt worse when someone else was chosen over them compared to when no-one else was chosen.
'This may be because such rejections lead to an increased sense of exclusion and decreased belonging,' the authors of the study concluded.
So, yes, being left for someone else is officially the worst way to be broken up with.
Of course, none of this really matters when you're going through the pain of a break-up. It's important to remember that all feelings are just as valid, and use the time after a split to focus on yourself and heal.
