12 undeniable signs you miss someone (complete list)

It’s easy to forget that some people aren’t meant to be with us forever. It’s heartbreaking.

You thought that you had forever to meet up with your friends for dinner, or that you’d always have your parents to talk to, or your partner to go through life together.

But then things change.

Your friend moves out of town for a new career; your parents eventually pass away; your relationship doesn’t work out.

These moments can strike us hard — so hard that its effects can be delayed, like the thunder after a flash of lightning far away.

Our emotions get confusing when someone we love leaves.

So here are 12 signs that could really mean that you just miss them.

1. They Are Constantly on Your Mind

This is one of the surest ways to tell that you miss someone.

There’s a reason you can’t get them out of your mind.

When you try to read something, you can’t help but think of them.

When you try to go for a walk, your mind tends to wander back to moments with them.

You might not even realize how much they’re on your mind.

You go about your day like usual, thinking about what you might be doing right now if they were there with you.

Nothing strikes you as odd at first – until you look around and remember that they really are gone from your life now.

There’s no use denying it at this point: you miss them.

2. You Think about Things You Wish You Could Tell Them

Maybe you see a poster for an upcoming action movie. It makes you curious and excited, and you think to yourself, “I can’t wait till I tell them about this!”

Only that there’s a problem: You can’t. They’re gone. It’s a habit you still have trouble dropping.

It’s almost as if everything you see reminds you of them.

When you listen to a new piece of music, your heart aches because you wish you could let them listen to it too.

After finishing a good book, you feel lost because you suddenly have no one to discuss it with.

3. Your Sleep Schedule is Messed Up…

You tell others that you go to bed at around 10PM, but you don’t fall asleep until 4 in the morning. You don’t know exactly why.

You just find yourself lying in bed with your eyes closed, thoughts swirling nonstop..

While you lay down with your eyes closed, you remember all the shared moments you had with them.

Then you think about how empty your life feels right now, without them there with you.

You might even start worrying about your fate; you ask yourself, “How could I possibly go on without them?”

These thoughts distract you. It’s as if your mind isn’t letting you sleep, no matter how tired you already are.

4. …But You Have Trouble Getting Out of Bed

When the morning comes, however, you have difficulty getting out of bed.

You feel so unmotivated now because the person that you love isn’t there with you anymore.

If you could, you’d spend the entire day in bed, eating your favorite ice cream, and watching your favorite sitcom to help cheer yourself up.

Even when you do get out of bed, you feel exhausted.

You feel lazy, as if you don’t want to do anything anymore.

You’d rather just sit down and stare into space.

5. Your Appetite Comes and Goes

There might be times where you’re eating a bag of chips, cookies, pizza, and popcorn all at once.

You’re craving almost everything in your fridge, so you take it all with you.

Though it may be a lot, it could also be a natural reaction to loss.

People going through difficult emotions tend to seek comfort in food.

There might also be times when you can’t even be bothered to get up to eat lunch; you can barely finish what’s on your plate.

The problem is that what’s on your mind isn’t food: it’s them.

This may also be caused by being so lost in missing someone.

6. Your Stomach Starts to Hurt

If you might not be eating as much, you might not notice it – but your stomach definitely will.

Medical experts have cited connections between your mental state and your physical state through your central nervous system.

When someone is feeling stressed or anxious, they’re likely to develop gastrointestinal problems.

If you find your emotions swinging, or you’re feeling stressed or anxious about what to do now that the person you love isn’t with you anymore, it’s likely to affect your stomach.

7. You Can’t Get Any Work Done

Since you don’t feel like getting out of bed, this feeling is worsened when you know there are things you need to do.

The problem is that your mind is so foggy that you can’t even see what you’re doing (or not doing).

The messes around the house start piling up.

A stack of used dishes lives in the sink, while unwashed clothes have taken a permanent residence on your office chair.

You might also be missing deadlines because you’ve just been so preoccupied thinking about the person that you miss.

What’s worse is that missing deadlines might make you even more anxious, then you feel anxious about feeling anxious and so it becomes an uncomfortable cycle.

8. You Live in the Past Often

When someone we love leaves us, all we have then are the memories we had with that person.

Often we find ourselves stuck in our heads, going through the same situations and same memories.

What could be triggering this as well is if they have some of their stuff still around your home.

You might still have their jacket from the time that you were freezing and they gave it to you.

You still have that ticket to the movie that was just terrible – but you both couldn’t help still enjoy it.

Having these items can be heartbreaking reminders that they aren’t in your life anymore. When you find yourself looking at these items longingly, you know you still miss them.

9. You Unintentionally Start Stalking Them

Maybe you’re scrolling through social media and you stumble upon a recent post by our ex.

You get intrigued so you keep looking; you check out the comments and look at the list of people that reacted to it.

Then you can’t help yourself.

You visit their social media profile and start scrolling through their recent posts.

You tell yourself there’s nothing harmful in this: you just want to stay up to date with what they’re doing.

You did tell each other that you were going to stay friends and keep in touch anyway.

But this behavior could quickly turn into an obsession.

Suddenly, you find yourself setting notifications for whenever they post.

You’re always online and always know when they’re online too. This is a sign that they’ve still got a massive grip on your life.

10. You Do the Things You Used to Do Together

Maybe before you used to go to this one park together.

You loved looking at the viewst, people watching, seeing all the birds and trees. It was always a lovely walk together.

But now that they’re gone from your life, that place becomes almost like a time machine. When you sit on the benches, memories start flashing in your mind out of nowhere.

Among your other senses, your sense of smell is usually the most potent for reminiscing, as a study finds.

So you might walk past the same sidewalk that you both would walk along, and get a whiff of the dirty alley that the both of you would always make fun of.

Or you frequent a restaurant where you used to eat at, just to smell the memorable scents over and over again.

11. They Appear in Your Dreams

What happens in our dreams is usually a manifestation of our waking experiences.

Some believe it’s simply your brain processing its memories.

So when you see your loved one in your dream, it’s a sure sign that means they’ve been active in your mind the majority of the day.

12. You Go Through the 7 Stages of Grief

A common response to loss is what’s known as the 7 stages of grief.

People tend to go through it in this order: shock and denial; pain and guilt; anger and bargaining; depression, loneliness, and reflection; slowly seeing things in a better light; reconstructing yourself; finally accepting the past and learning to hope again.

If you notice that you’ve gone through any one of these stages, you can talk to a professional to help guide you through the next potential one.