My Achey Breaky Heart

I just watched "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" for the nth time the other day. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a film starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film revolves around Peter (Jason Segel) and his process of getting over Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) who broke up with him because she was cheating on him with Aldous Snow (Russel Brand). Peter could not function very well after the break-up and so he decides to take a vacation to Hawaii to take a break. There, he bumps into the friendly and accommodating Rachel (Mila Kunis) and Sarah Marshall herself. Peter tries to deal with the situation as best as he can and eventually, he is finally able to move on from the break-up.

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I really like the movie (hence the number of times I've watched it). It is funny and enjoyable. Jason Segel's portrayal of a post-break up was hilarious. But despite the comedy, I really felt the pain and drama behind a break-up. I myself have not experienced a break-up yet (thankfully, and hopefully not anytime soon) so I don't really know what it feels like to undergo a break-up. I have experienced unrequited love and I have experienced some kind of broken-heartedness.

Pain can come in different forms. One would be the physical pain such as nociceptive pain (pain caused by receptors in the skin), inflammatory pain (pain caused by damage to tissues and such), and neuropathic pain (pain cause by lesions or damage to the nervous system). There would also be the pain that comes from social loss or rejection. Studies have shown that the pain from social loss may activate the same parts of the brain areas activated by physical pain (Goldstein, 2010).

In a study done by Kross, Berman, Mischel, Smith and Wager (2011), they found that areas that support the sensory components of physical pain become active when rejection is powerfully elicited. Kross and colleagues recruited 40 people who felt rejected as a result of recently experiencing an unwanted romantic relationship break-up. They were asked to do 2 tasks under an fMRI. In the Social Pain task, the participants were shown photos of the participant's ex-partners and a same-gendered friend with whom they shared a positive experience around the time of the breakup as well as cue phrases appearing beneath each photo that directed the participant to focus on a specific experience they shared with each person. In the Physical Pain task, participants were given painful and nonpainful thermal stimulations to their left volar forearm. 

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According to the self-reports of the participants, they experienced greater distress on the ex-partner than the friend trials as well as the hot trials than the warm trials. Results also showed that there is are overlapping increases in activity in the affective pain regions found in the dACC and the AI as well as the thalamus and right parietal opercular/insular cortex.

This research suggests that social rejection really does hurt. Social rejection and physical pain are not only similar in the distress they give, but they are also similar in that they share a common representation in somatosensory brain systems.Distress elicited by social rejection may also represent a distinct emotional experience that is uniquely associated with physical pain.

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So when someone has just rejected you - may it be a close friend, an intense crush or a long time boyfriend - you are experiencing pain similar to touching a hot pan or getting hot coffee poured on you. It's not just something shallow. You are legitimately feeling pain and so you are entitled to being hurt about it.

With that said, here is a recipe I found on a list of 10 breakup foods.

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BACON AND CREAM CHEESE BURGERS

Ingredients

hamburger patties
streaky bacon (3 per burger) 
fresh burger buns
plain cream cheese, (room temperature)
mayonnaise

Method
I chose to cook my patties on a flat-top grill but feel free to cook them any way you want to. 
There’s nothing better than smelling burgers cooking on a braai.
Place the streaky bacon on a wire-rack and over a baking tray and place into the oven (220°C). 
Cook until the bacon is crisp and golden.
Toast the buns, if you prefer. If you used a pan to fry the burgers toast it in the same pan.
Spread some cream cheese on the bottom part of the burger bun, top with a cooked patty and then some bacon. 
Add some mayo and other toppings of your choice and enjoy!

It looks easy-peasy right? Of course if you're really moping over a breakup and you're too sad and/or lazy to move, you can just get a big tub of ice cream, sit down in front of the TV, pop in a movie, and eat the whole tub all by yourself.

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-Samantha Rae M. Sanchez

References:
Goldstein, E.B. (2010). Sensation and perception (8th ed). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. 

Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Mischel, W., Smith, E., & Wager, T. (2011). Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., 108, 6270–6275.

Recipe from: http://www.food24.com/Recipes/Bacon-and-cream-cheese-burgers-20110128