Rebound Dating

Ok, so I was reading some online dating forums the other day and kept running across comments regarding rebound dating. More specifically, most of the comments seemed to indicate that it is fairly common to go on a first date only to find out that the person they met had only been single for a short time, and should not be dating at all.

After reading all these comments, I was left with several questions regarding rebound dating and if and when it is appropriate. It appears that there are a few schools of thought when it comes to this topic.

One of the most common thoughts on this was the “get right back out there” or “back on the horse” approach. Apparently if the pervious relationship was not that serious, or was a fairly short duration, a lot of people seem to recommend getting back on the horse as soon as possible and start dating again. From the comments it seems doing this helps people to see that there are other fish in the sea and that it is ok to move on quickly.

The second approach seemed to apply to long-term relationship that were considers more serious. According to the comments, it appears in cases like this it is indeed best to take a break from dating while you recover from the breakup. What I found most interesting about this approach was that it was not nearly as cut and dry as the other. While almost all comments recommended taking a break, there did not seem to be a consensus as to how long to wait before dating again was appropriate. Some recommended only a few weeks or months, while others used more of a formula based approach recommending that it takes half as long as the relationship last to completely heal. I found this formula approach extremely intriguing, because if you had been in a relationship for say 10 years, it would require you to wait 5 years before you could say you are truly over your ex and ready to move on.

While I have been through a few breakups myself, I don’t know if I have enough experience to comment on which approach I feel is right. For me, I have always felt that I need a least a little break from dating once a relationship has ended, even if it was nothing serious. I have also gone through a long-term breakup and don’t know if I actually waited long enough before trying to date again. I think the reality is that this is not something that is cut and dry. I believe that in most cases everyone is different, as thus requires a different amount of time before moving on.

How about you? Have you ever been a victim of rebound dating? Have you ever been the one on the rebound and trying to date to get past someone? Do you think you can define how long someone should wait before trying to date again? Is there a formula that actually works for everyone in every case?

If you have a relating story to share, I would love to hear it!