Christina, 26, moved from Brighton to Leeds in February, breaking up with her boyfriend in the process. Now, it feels even more difficult to stay distant from someone she used to be so close to. “I haven’t been able to meet people because of Covid-19, so I feel quite lonely and out of my depth right now,” she says. “Because of this, I feel this yearning to speak to my ex and feel that warm happiness he brought me.”

Of course, now definitely could be a time to reconnect with someone you’ve lost touch with, or someone you feel you could’ve made more effort with. But there’s unfortunately a unique risk that comes from letting an ex back into your life, especially in these unpredictable times.

“We need to remember that at the present moment, our perspective has changed due to the current situation, but this will be over one day,” Charlotte says. “If you open up the relationship again, would you want to keep in touch with that person when you return to some semblance of normality again? If not, you need to think about that before contacting your ex, [because] it could cause both of you unnecessary upset.”

Are some of us (namely, me) partially over-romanticising what we once had? Probably. Sometimes it feels like there’s not much else to do. Our lives feel physically emptier right now, and thinking about filling it with someone who used to sleep next to you and bring such warmth to your life is, unfortunately, human nature.

But we must resist, because, get this. Eventually, this will pass. Life will continue as some reflection of how it used to be, at some point. And we must ask ourselves that, when that day comes, do we want to bring old stresses, anxieties and problems from a broken relationship into it? Or do we want to act to protect ourselves from further hurt and complication?

Don't text your ex! How to resist the temptation to reconnect in self-isolation