Lemondrop

Katrina, 34, had been dating her boyfriend for a year, until two weeks ago when he dropped a bomb. "We'd been through some tough times recently, and I finally felt comfortable in our relationship again. That's when he told me he just didn't see us together long-term. It came out of nowhere."

What Katrina may not have realized is that we are currently at the tail end of Breakup Season. A study released by Yahoo! Personals found that people are twice as likely to think about calling it quits between December and Valentine's Day than they are throughout the rest of the year.

According to the survey, the two main causes behind the breakup are not seeing a shared future with the person and a lack of fulfillment from the relationship.

Bad Timing
"People don't want to ruin their partner's holidays, so they stick it out through December, and then you have a lot of post-Christmas and New Year's breakups," says dating expert and coach David Wygant.

Plus, January's resolution rush motivates many people to tackle things that aren't working -- like relationships. Add the winter blahs and mounting pressure from a looming Valentine's Day and you've got a perfect storm of split-up motivators.

Click here to read about more breakup season victims -- and how to cope if you're one.


Stephanie, 26, is now familiar with the concept. "My boyfriend and I had been dating for three years, and we were kind of on rocky terms. In a fit of nostalgia, I reread an old journal entry from the beginning of our relationship and realized our problems then were still our problems now. I knew I needed a change, I just couldn't take another month of settling, and by the end of the week we broke things off."

Keep Your Mind Busy
It's hard to "not think about it" when there are pink and red hearts decorating everything and your heart is hurting. Still, staying busy will help you move on -- so book dinners with friends, sign up for classes, set gym goals.

Getting stuff done and reconnecting with pals means you'll feel more emotionally fulfilled and accomplished than you will if you go home and sob for hours a night in front of the TV. That equals a faster recovery.

Learn Something
When you can't help but overanalyze every little thing, at least turn that into a healthy exercise. "Instead of pointing the finger, think about the role both of you played in the relationship and what you should remember the next time you get into a guy."

Ideally, you'll get to the root of what went wrong and avoid similar problems in the future. And with that insight, moving on becomes a lot easier.

Fly Solo
Instead of jumping right back into dating, spend time with your friends, family and yourself. Once you realize you're able to survive on your own, you'll eventually learn what you want out of life and in a man. The absolute last thing you want to do is find a replacement to fill the void you may currently be feeling.

"The people you attract are those who are like you," warns Wygant. "If you start going out immediately afterward, you're going to be wounded, thus you're only going to attract wounded people."

Tell us: Have you ever experienced breakup season? Were you the dumper or the dumpee? How'd you get through it?