What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
While closure is widely considered possible, desirable, and necessary, many experts believe it’s none of those things.
See also: How to optimize your break-up
Closure reportedly stems from Gestalt psychology, which began as a way of understanding how the mind perceives and processes images. One of the main Gestalt principles is that the mind seeks closure, so if an image of a circle is incomplete, the mind still perceives it as a circle.
Over time, this principle crossed over to how we process life experiences. It was believed that unsolved trauma from the past needed to be resolved, or "closed," in order to properly process it and move on.
Many people worry about being stuck in the past, and your friends and family will likely advise you against it, but deciding against "closure," Bush says, is actually the best way to move forward.
Even the truest reason for a breakup is painful, and it could be even more traumatizing depending on what the reason is.
There's a kind of comfort that comes from the idea of closure, that there's some way to just turn off pain and return to life as usual. In the wake of a tragic loss or traumatic breakup, closure is the most common piece of advice you'll get from your friends, family, and most popular media too. It's what entire movies are based on, and it's embedded into our rituals of death, and our rituals of heartbreak.
While it's nice to think that there is a series of steps you can take to achieve this magical state where pain disappears and bad memories evaporate, there are many flaws in the concept of closure. In fact, psychologists, who once endorsed closure, are actually working to debunk the myth and teach better ways of healing.
Click through to see how closure became so popular, how it has led us astray, and find out what experts think the real focus should be when attempting the harrowing task of moving on.
After the writing exercise, the selected group writing positively reported no increase in negative emotions, along with a boost of positive outcomes including confidence, empowerment, comfort, optimism, gratitude, and wisdom.
Is closure a myth? Here's what experts say
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There's a kind of comfort that comes from the idea of closure, that there's some way to just turn off pain and return to life as usual. In the wake of a tragic loss or traumatic breakup, closure is the most common piece of advice you'll get from your friends, family, and most popular media too. It's what entire movies are based on, and it's embedded into our rituals of death, and our rituals of heartbreak.
While it's nice to think that there is a series of steps you can take to achieve this magical state where pain disappears and bad memories evaporate, there are many flaws in the concept of closure. In fact, psychologists, who once endorsed closure, are actually working to debunk the myth and teach better ways of healing.
Click through to see how closure became so popular, how it has led us astray, and find out what experts think the real focus should be when attempting the harrowing task of moving on.