When the heart painfully misses its partner, the heartbreak is long-distance.

Every goodbye at the train station, every hung-up Skype call leaves a stab in the heart. Long-distance heartbreak sometimes feels like something is missing—and not just figuratively. Evenings spent falling asleep alone while your loved one is miles away can be uncomfortably lonely and painful. You lie awake, staring at the ceiling, your heart aching with longing.

That feeling of missing your partner so much that it physically hurts is real: studies show that emotional separation pain activates the same brain areas as physical pain ( Kross et al., 2011 ). No wonder, then, that it feels like your heart is actually breaking.

You are not alone in this pain. Long-distance relationships present many couples with this challenge – longing becomes a constant companion. In a survey , 66% of respondents cited the lack of physical closeness as the most difficult aspect of their long-distance relationship ( White, 2024 ). This gnawing yearning, the emptiness in your arms where your loved one should be, is familiar to so many. While it doesn't offer immediate comfort, it shows that your feelings are completely normal and understandable. They are even a sign of how important your love is to you.

Even though heartbreak hurts when you're far away, it carries a glimmer of hope. It reminds you what you have in your partner and how deep your connection runs. Every night spent crying is ultimately an expression of your strong feelings. It's important to talk about it openly—with your partner or friends—instead of bottling up the pain.

Simply expressing the longing can bring relief. And who knows: often, new ways of being close to one another emerge from this difficult phase, even across distances. For where there is deep longing, there is also deep love.