Heartbreak is something many of us experience at some point in our lives but no matter how many times we go through it, it always hurts like hell.
"A social rejection hijacks the part of our brain that signals pain to say, 'Hey, this is a really serious situation,' because just like physical pain, the consequences could be there," Dr. Ethan Kross, of the University of Michigan's Emotion & Self Control Lab, told the Washington Post in October on the effects of heartbreak and rejection.
With this in mind, we asked a few Torontonians about their experiences with heartbreak. (Check 'em out in the video above.)
Nathan Evangelista, a Graphic Design and Business Management student at Toronto's Ryerson University, is gay. After struggling with finding love, Evangelista finally found a partner who he was in a committed relationship with for more than a year.
"I hadn't even come out to my parents at the time so I was happy when I found love. Being with him gave me the courage to come out to my parents and everything went well to my surprise. I became happier," he told HuffPost Canada.
That relationship helped him gain confidence and pride in his sexual orientation, but when the relationship ended last August, Evangelista said he felt broken. "I was really, really down and I felt hopeless. I felt like I could find no one else," he said.
Evangelista's story is familiar to many people who have gone through heartbreak, including Toronto native Gershona Annor.
Her first experience with heartbreak came after her first relationship ended at age 18, when she was a high school student. "I couldn't go to school. My first heartbreak I was a mess. I even got thinner. I let myself go and that's the thing that I realized you could never do is let yourself go," Annor told HuffPost Canada.
Watch the video above for more lessons about heartbreak, including stories from actor and "The Bachelorette Canada" contestant David Pinard, and photographer Nathalia Allen.