No matter how much heartbreak you have faced since the person you liked at school refused to share a swing with you, break-ups are always painful. However, the cosmos holds a lot of astrological information in this matter too and helps us to know, according to our zodiac sign, how we behave in the face of break-ups, what we tend to do to get over them and - more importantly - what we should change once Cupid takes his arrows. Here's what you need to know about yourself and, by the way, your ex.

Aries
Having long and deep conversations to examine your feelings in order to get closure and start another one... is boring the hell out of you. As the ram that you are, your sign is famous for avoiding sentimentalism in favour of, simply and plainly, 'moving on' until the day comes when you feel better. And it will surely come. But, if you are honest with yourself, here and now, you are not well at all.

Defence mechanism: buy tickets for a concert for everybody at 1 in the morning and, once there, pretend your mobile isn't working and get lost in the crowd.

Taurus
Ruled by Venus, you Bulls are generous lovers; so, so generous that many times you will hold on to someone longer than you should. You prefer not to face up to how bad the break-up has left you for the moment in order to safeguard your pride and put on a poker face in front of your ex.

Defence mechanism: signing up for classes in anything and everything so that the whole world will see -and especially your Instagram followers- 'how good' you are.

Gemini
Unfortunately, for the celestial weather vanes of the zodiac, moving on from a stagnant relationship isn't usually the clean break they'd like it to be. Falling out of love usually involves a lot of back and forth, a whirlwind of extremes that one day leads you to "maybe we can make it work" only to tell you, the next day, "I hope I never run into you at the supermarket".

Defence mechanism: convince yourself that you can easily find someone better... but if after five minutes you don't hear back from them on Tinder, you think it's a textbook ghosting and that you're definitely going to die a lonely death.

Cancer
Symbolised by the crab, your hard outer shell hides a sensitive interior. While the world thinks you're fine and have turned over a new page, you don't want anyone to know you're falling apart when your song comes on the radio.

Defence mechanism: meet for coffee with a friend you haven't seen for a long time and end up telling him or her all about your childhood without a word of warning.

Leo
Of all the horoscopes and no break-ups, if there is one thing you should know, it is that the lions of the zodiacal wheel take break-ups as a competitive sport, a game in which one wins and the other loses. However, few realise that this domineering attitude is just a smokescreen to cover up how much they loved their ex.

Defence mechanism: buy everyone an extra round at after-work so you can tell them that nothing is really wrong because it was you who broke off the relationship.

Virgo
Ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication, Virgos are the most cerebral of the zodiac: they prefer to sit down and talk about what went wrong so that there are no hard feelings and they can be really happy when they suddenly see their ex at a party.

Defence mechanism: let your friends organise a sleepover for you so you can let off steam to your heart's content, even if you organise it all yourself anyway.

Libra
Symbolised by the scales, your world is based on balance. You can make peace with someone if the relationship was fizzling out on its own, but what about not seeing it coming? Be prepared for the words "we need to talk" to get on your nerves for the rest of your life.

Defence mechanism: avoid eye contact and start looking at your phone when someone asks you what happened.

Scorpio
As a water sign, you may appear to the world to be getting over the break-up with poise and calm, but few know that it's all thanks to the step-by-step break-up protocol you've meticulously developed over the years, starting with blocking your ex on social media and deleting all your couple photos.

Defence mechanism: looking the other way when your friends don't understand what it's like to want to be surrounded by people but still be left alone.

Sagittarius
As the last fire sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius loves to go out in search of excitement more than any other sign. No crying: there's bound to be someone better waiting around the corner. How long do I have to wait for politeness before I accidentally bump into that hottie at the gym?

Defence mechanism: book a holiday on your own in Bali because it's better to take a plane than a depression. There will, of course, be a mini-break on board with your mini-bottle of tequila.

Capricorn
Some might assume from your cold and indifferent attitude that you don't believe in love, but the truth is that you are simply brave enough to recognise when it's time to cut the cord and walk away from an unsalvageable relationship.

Defence mechanism: you refuse to let an unpleasant experience dent your faith in love, as long as the next person meets the 547,364 requirements on your list.

Aquarius
The last air sign of the zodiac, their approach to break-ups can be a bit unusual: they are equally determined to see that the other party has everything they need to heal emotionally and move on.

Defence mechanism: respond every time someone asks you how you're doing with a spiel about how it's good to have more time for all the reading you need to do.

Pisces
The fish of the cosmos are happy floating in the waters of fantasy and a break-up may be the reality check that sends them swimming to safety. In their transition to singleness they may need a little help, difficult if your ex is the type who shuts down emotionally after a breakup.

Defence mechanism: Make an emergency phone call to your ex to ask his opinion about the haircut you got at home with your head over the sink at 3am and he'll tell you it wasn't such a bad idea, right? Right?