The facts of life: heartbreak

A survey has revealed that more than 40 per cent of under-25s would end their relationship over the phone rather than do it in person.

8 January is the day when the most couples start the process of separation; experts believe a stressful Christmas is often the final straw for a failing marriage. Relate also reports a significant surge in the number of calls it receives over the Christmas period.

Official figures for 2007 revealed that the divorce rate in England and Wales is falling and that couples of almost every age are more determined to stay together. The divorce rate fell to 11.9 per 1,000 married people in 2007, from 12.2 per 1,000 in 2006.

Divorce rates may be falling, but that's not the whole picture. A leading UK divorce lawyer says the figures reflect a decline in marriage rates. The 2005 marriage rate was the lowest on record; these low numbers, coupled with a fear of court battles, are reportedly putting couples off getting hitched.

A broken heart has been a metaphor for mental suffering for centuries. In Psalm 69:20 (in the King James Bible) King David says: "Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none."

One in five men and women divorcing in 2007 had a previous marriage ending in divorce, according to official figures. This proportion has doubled since 1980, when one in 10 men and women divorcing had a previous marriage ending in divorce.

There were 42 civil partnership dissolutions granted in the UK in 2007, of which 14 were to male couples, 28 to female. The Civil Partnership Act came into operation on 5 December 2005.

While the medicinal use for Hamamelis (witch hazel) is well-known, the shrub's emotional healing properties are something of a well-kept secret. Those seeking to mend a broken heart are recommended to carry on them the bark and twigs of the plant. It's also believed to ward off "anti-love" spells, should you so require.

In the modern world, the notion of physically suffering from a broken heart is dismissed as folklore. But researchers at Johns Hopkins University in America say that some heart attack victims are actually suffering what they have dubbed "broken heart" syndrome. A 2005 study found that people who had heart attacks after receiving bad news had clear arteries but had suffered a surge in adrenaline and other stress hormones that temporarily stunned the heart.

Break-up songs are an art-form all of their own and "Everybody Hurts", the 1992 song by REM, swiftly became an anthem for the broken-hearted. For some, the simple lyrics "Everybody hurts sometimes ... Take comfort in your friends" were a life-saver. In 1995, the Samaritans made an advert consisting solely of the song and their hotline number.