Without getting into much detail from the start, no contact works on women and men equally—as the human brain works the same way for both genders.
There are, however, some minor differences when it comes to the female stimulus and the way the female mind works in no contact. We will get to that in the following chapters.
But for now, let’s examine the times when the no contact rule doesn’t work on women.
Does no contact work if you messed up big time?
No contact doesn’t work on women dumpers when you have been extremely negligent, unfair, cruel, abusive, disrespectful, authoritative, distant for ages, controlling beyond belief and anything despicable.
As you may have already noticed, the above-mentioned exceptions to the no contact rule are quite severe.
They are some of the worst things a person can do in a relationship.
So if you’ve done those bad things (or worse) and you’re wondering whether no contact works on women or a specific girl, you first need to take a step back and ponder about your actions.
Think deep and hard and find out why you felt inclined to act in such impulsive ways toward your ex-girlfriend.
Don’t worry about getting her back with no contact for now.
You have a lot of work to do on yourself before you learn how to make your ex want you back the right way with no contact and/or with other methods.
Dumpees focus on themselves
Since you’re reading this article, I assume you’re a man. If you are, I’ll tell you a little secret.
Most men I help with their breakup predicament are very inclined toward becoming better versions of themselves.
Right after the breakup, they are in so much pain that they do some searching and digging and come across the notorious no contact rule to get their ex-girlfriend back.
As a result of renewed hope, they apply it immediately or shortly after they’ve begged and pleaded.
And once the no contact rule is in place, they begin the waiting game for the effects of no contact to kick in.
They follow the rules of no contact down to the T. and promptly begin to look for answers – the answers to improve as people which could, in essence, bring their ex-girlfriend back.
I have noticed that every man wanting to get back together with his ex-girlfriend would do anything to get his ex back.
A broken-hearted dumpee would swim oceans, climb mountains and cross deserts to get one more chance to hold their ex-girlfriend again.
Chances are, you would too. That’s probably why you’re here.
Improve to get her back!
The reason I am telling you to improve is because this is your time to make things right.
Whether you can get her back with no contact doesn’t matter right now.
What does matter is where you put your attention and how you behave post-breakup.
This alone matters much more than you probably think.
While you are in no contact and you wish to get your woman back, there are many things you should do to maximize your chances of getting back with your ex woman, wife or fiancée.
Some of the things you can improve include:
- rewiring your bad behavioral patterns
- learning how to cope with stress and anxiety
- expanding your relationship knowledge
- caring for yourself and your body
- becoming selfless
- making new friends
- getting a job/better job
- and much, much more
Once you’ve done all of those things, you will know you’re ready to attract your ex-girlfriend back into your life.
Here’s the trick though.
You won’t deliberately attract her back by picking up the phone and tell her everything you were able to achieve.
It doesn’t work like that. Your ex-girlfriend has to realize that you’ve grown herself!
I can’t stress the importance of this enough.
When you’re in no contact, you are in no-contact indefinitely.
Forget the 30-day no contact to get your ex-back shenanigans. It’s just a devious scam, devised by some of the worst breakup experts you can come across.
Keep in mind that there are no quick remedies to attracting your ex back, so pay close attention to how you can and must attract your ex-girlfriend back so that you may have another chance if she comes back.
Applying no contact rule on women
Following the strictest no contact rule and letting go of your ex is no easy task.
It takes a lot of strength to start no contact and even more to stick to it through good and bad days.
So keep in mind that the no contact rule works on women when you get it right from the start.
And if it doesn’t ever work, you will be so thankful that you went no contact with your ex-girlfriend and saved face.
I would really appreciate it if you come back and share your no contact story in the future because it will be a success regardless of whether you get her back or not.
You will likely have grown and healed so much by the time you hear from your ex-girlfriend that she’s going to be just a thing from the past. Believe me.
When you got broken up with, you likely did some begging and pleading to get her back—and it failed.
You had hoped that if you just show your ex-girlfriend how much you care about her that she would give you another chance and you would both live happily ever after.
Every man I coach believes that if he just had one more chance, he could correct all his mistakes and make things right with his ex-girlfriend, ex-wife or ex-fiancée.
But unfortunately, if you’re one of those dumpees, I must disappoint you and tell you that you’re not responsible to fix your ex-girlfriend’s issues and make her love you again.
Even though you wish to fight for what you believe is right, you can only do so as long as you are in a relationship with your partner.
Once she breaks up with you, you have no choice but to go no contact—both for yourself and her.
At the end of your relationship, your ex-girlfriend was convinced you were not right for her so she pulled the trigger on you.
She thought you either wouldn’t change or couldn’t make her happy in the long-run.
Perhaps there were other relationship issues I left out, but the end result remains the same.
She doesn’t want, nor deserve your determination to work things out at the moment.
So don’t try to go against her will. It will only make her angry even if she was the one that dumped you.
For men, getting women back with no contact means that they must stay in no contact and let their women deal with their own issues.
They must do so because the dumper’s issues are way beyond their control.
As you may know, every person is responsible for his or her own actions and your ex is no exception.
That’s why you must let her go so that she can experience a single life for a while.
It can take days or it can take weeks before no contact starts having an effect on her.
Nobody really knows.
It might not ever make your ex crave your attention again, so moving on is your best option right from the moment when you get dumped.
We do, however, know that somebody has an important lesson to teach your ex-girlfriend.
And that person, dear reader is not you.
There are only two things you should consider when a woman breaks up with you and you’re following no contact.
The first one is whether she has enough space from you and the second is time.
My ex-girlfriend says she needs space
It doesn’t get any clearer than when your ex-girlfriend says she needs space.
Your ex-girlfriend needs a lot of distance and time away from you to process the breakup.
She’s in the first stage of a breakup for the dumper, after all, so she feels incredibly suffocated.
Your ex is, in essence, asking for no contact—and you must provide it to her immediately.
You likely feel naturally inclined toward your ex because she broke your heart into a million pieces.
You probably wish you could just hear her voice and hug her one more time.
And that’s why you must go no contact with your ex-girlfriend, as it will prevent you from chasing her and heal your wounded heart—one day at a time.
Running after her may work in Hollywood movies but not in real life. When she’s done, she’s done. So give her all the space she asks for.
Be really generous and throw in some extra space.
Hoping to be friends with your ex right after the breakup is dangerous for your health.
You will likely desire your ex-girlfriend’s attention even more because she obviously wants less of yours.
This phenomenon occurs naturally due to the breakup pain.
I call it the dumpee’s syndrome.
So even if your ex wants to be friends, I suggest that you accept her request and go no contact right after.
Praying and wishing you could crawl back into her life and consequently, heart is desperate-thinking and completely disrespectful to yourself.
By the time you actually manage to portray change, improvement and get close to her, you will have tethered yourself to her leash.
She’s going to teach you how to bark and roll over for her. And that’s why I strongly advise you not to give her that power.
You will never be happy again and honestly, neither will she. Despite your ex-girlfriend wanting all the power, she doesn’t really want it.
Your ex-woman will only acknowledge you worth when you’re diligently recovering in no contact and portraying strength.
It cannot happen if you continue committing the typical post-breakup mistakes.
If you try to force her to stay by instilling shame and guilt in her, she will slowly detach and show you how little you mean to her.
It takes a really mature individual who’s done a lot of soul-searching to fight against her inclinations and essentially realize how the breakup is affecting her.
So if your ex-girlfriend is acting out of control, chances are she will never reach the levels of emotional maturity you need her to be on for the no contact rule to work.
In all honesty, you will have dodged the bullet with your ex.
Getting her back with no-contact
For no contact to work on a woman, you must set the foundation for the laws of the universe to do its job.
The best way for you to do that is by never, ever reaching out to your ex in no contact and leave her completely alone—forever if it may be.
In this way, you’ll regain some of the power you lost on the day of the breakup.
Rules of no contact
No contact rule is basically just a rule. It’s a self-imposed restriction that manifests the best results you can achieve with an ex.
The first rule of the no contact rule is to never break it—ever. You must follow this rule like it’s the only thing you know how.
The second rule of no contact is to use it the way it’s meant to be used and not half-way.
It’s meant for you to heal and recover which includes no checking up on your ex-girlfriend no matter what.
A lot of people voluntarily neglect this important part even though it’s so important for the dumpees.
If you’re going to do the indefinite no contact rule, please do it the way you’re supposed to do it.
Unfollow your ex on social media and prevent yourself from receiving any information about her.
Only once you’ve done that, will you be able to finally get a breather and recover from your ex as a dumpee.
Don’t delete your ex from social media though. Hiding her from view is enough (provided you have the determination not to look at her posts, of course).
I see some people saying how following the no contact rule with your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend is a weak move because it’s “The coward’s way out.”
I’m here to tell you it’s far from that.
It’s a powerful move, full of self-respect, self-love, self-appreciation and much more.
The no contact rule is also a respectful gesture toward your ex because you’re telling her that you respect her decision.
It does not tell your ex that you’re holding grudges or that you aren’t willing to talk to her.
You are merely giving her the space and time to reach out on her own terms.
If you come across comments that oppose the indefinite no contact rule and you’re starting to doubt no contact with your ex-girlfriend, I’m here to tell you the truth.
I have nothing to gain by deceiving you—as I believe in karma.
Dumpees experience unbelievable withdrawals when they reach out prematurely to their ex. In fact, the pain is often so bad that dumpees can’t eat or sleep as a result.
And that’s something I take very seriously.
So please stay in no contact with your ex-girlfriend so that you can heal and give your ex what she needs.
If you do that, you’ll maximize your chances with your ex as well as recover as fast as you can.
Will she move on in no contact?
Staying in contact with women will make them move on and forget about you even faster.
The reason for that is that women can use you to take that last step to get over you.
Yes, your attention can actually help your ex to leave you in the past. She will feel great to receive your unconditional love when she deserves it the least.
Just put yourself in her shoes for a minute and imagine how your ex would feel if you stay in her life.
She will likely think “I don’t want to be in a relationship with my ex anymore, but he sure is making it easier on me by taking my guilt away.“
Dear friend, most dumpers, regardless of gender are over you on the day of the breakup.
And if by some chance, they have any lingering doubts left, staying in contact will erase them shortly after.
This is the hurtful truth you need to hear so that you can start implementing the no contact rule with your woman.
The psychology behind no contact
No contact works on women, men and just about everyone in between. It’s not about gender or sexual orientation.
The human mind is a complex piece of machinery, and we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it.
But from my understanding, the psychology behind no contact works like this;
When you get broken up with by your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, you have a responsibility to retain your value as a person and a partner.
The only way for you not to push your ex away and keep your value is to remove all attention from your ex-girlfriend. So when you allow her to be free, you in essence regain the respect your ex has lost for you.
Leaving your ex-girlfriend completely alone makes her happy. She has to be alone (or with someone else) and you must respect that.
You don’t have to like it and you don’t have to love it. But you must nonetheless respect your ex’s freedom of choice.
Regardless of gender, the human mind works similarly in no contact for both genders.
Short-term results from no contact can often be noticed very quickly after the breakup.
There are many signs to look out for after your ex-girlfriend has broken up with you. Some of the obvious signs your ex still loves you are when she gives you attention, flirts with you, wants to spend time with you and so on.
As a dumpee, you might not see the signs that your ex-girlfriend still loves you, and that’s why you must remain patient and calm.
Developing the ability to stay calm under pressure is crucial when it comes to getting your girlfriend back with no contact.
I’d say it’s one of the most important skills in life.
Does no contact work on women if you broke it?
The more mistakes you make, the more you lower your chances of reconciliation with your ex-woman.
This is no rocket science.
Whenever you cave into curiosity and impulsively reach out to your ex before she’s ready, you ruin your self-esteem.
Not only that
Breaking no contact with your ex-girlfriend pushes her away and makes you suffer again.
So even if you’re having a bad day and you want to reach out to your ex for comfort, do your best not to break no contact.
Stay away and persevere at all cost! Reaching out to her prematurely oftentimes means bad news. In a nutshell, it suffocates your ex-girlfriend and hurts your heart.
Also, be aware of the 30-day to get your ex back scam. It does not work. Your ex-girlfriend isn’t sitting by the phone, waiting for you to call her.
It’s quite the opposite. She’s far from staying available, enjoying her life.
As difficult as it is to hear this, please don’t break no contact with your ex-girlfriend. Even if you feel better or you’ve completely moved on do not reach out to your ex!
You have nothing to gain.
Does no contact work on women after begging and pleading?
No contact can work even if you resorted to begging and pleading after the breakup.
However, please keep in mind that the more you decreased your value in your ex’s eyes, the harder you made it for yourself to redeem yourself.
If only it were as simple as saying to your ex, “I don’t know what got over me. I’m sorry.”
But it’s not.
If you do that and apologize to your ex, you’ll only emphasize your impulsiveness and solidify your ex’s decision for leaving you.
For this trick to have a slither of hope, you must perform it immediately after the breakup—preferably on the same day and never initiate contact again.
If you begged and pleaded your ex-girlfriend to reconsider the breakup during no contact and acted on impulse, simply restart the no contact rule.
Start the healing process again and let the time do its work.
No contact is the safest place to be in when it comes to getting your ex-girlfriend back. There truly is no better way to get her back if you pleaded.
Every day you spend in no contact, you spend improving and healing.
So keep in mind that no contact works for you every time, 100% of the time. As for your ex, it really depends on her perception of you and the things going on in her life.
People have a tendency to forget and undervalue others very quickly when the relationship comes to an end.
So if you got dumped, no contact will always work for you to some degree. If nothing else, you will at least eventually regain the respect you’d lost from your ex.
No contact works almost every time
When you implement the no contact rule successfully from the very beginning, your chances of getting your ex back increase tremendously.
The main reason for that is that you allow your post-breakup persona to retain its value.
In your ex’s eyes, you simply remain as the broken-hearted dumpee.
However, if you beg and plead your ex-girlfriend to take you back for weeks and months, that’s another story.
So let’s not go down that path.
No contact rule does indeed work on women. The only difference between the two genders is that women tend to come back often for security when men come back for ego purposes.
No contact works because it’s meant for you to retain your worth as a human being and as an ex-partner.
By staying in no contact indefinitely with the woman you love, you are strongly resisting the urge to contact her.
When you do this, your ex will initially be very happy about the space you’re giving her.
After some time, she will begin to wonder why you aren’t chasing after her. She won’t reach out, but merely become curious about your inactions.
And that’s the foundation for attraction to develop.
Once she’s curious enough and perhaps dates a few other men, she will face reality. Either her next dating candidate will be someone she can create a life with or she won’t.
So stay in no contact to find out. She might bounce back to you when her rebound fails.
Getting your wife back with no contact
If you live together with your ex-partner and you’re wondering how to get your wife back with no contact, allow me to bring some clarity.
No contact is not about ignoring your wife or your ex-partner. It’s also not about pretending everything’s okay.
It’s all about respecting her need for separation.
If your ex is rude, cold and distant toward you, you must:
- show respect and in return ask for it
- back off and allow her to deal with her emotions
- stop asking questions she doesn’t want to answer
- make the conversations only about important things (kids, bills, family, etc.)
- be on your best behavior
In theory, when you’re living with your wife, you’re essentially in limited contact.
Sometimes staying in no contact is not possible, so don’t think that you must always maintain no contact with your ex-wife.
Rememer, no contact is based on the following principles:
- respect
- giving space
- not making things worse
- moving on
Be nice and respectful to your wife even though she may not act nicely toward you. It took her long to change her perception of you, so it’s a given that it will take her a long time to see you in a better light as well.
Be patient.
Did no contact work on your woman or are you still in no contact? I’d like to hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.
My name is Zan and I’m the founder of Magnet of Success. I enjoy writing realistic relationship and breakup articles and helping readers heal and grow. With more than 5 years of experience in the self-improvement, relationship, and breakup sphere, my goal is to provide advice that fosters positivity and success and avoids preventable mistakes and pain. Buy me a coffee, learn more about me, or get in touch today.
My gf “dumped me” because she “wants to work on herself before she starts answering to anyone else. And, she doesn’t know how to introduce me to her kids, as they are “finally content with the living situation at home since the divorce” (with her ex husband). I think she feels pressured in general even though I tried so hard to show her that she doesn’t need to feel pressured and worry so much about those things, as ‘we’ will/can find a way to organically get to that point with her kids and just healthy communication about it with her in general. She always seemed to avoid difficult but well needed conversations. Anyways, I think all this plus whatever else that pressures her in her personal life drove her to “dump me”. Also it was in anger as we had a stupid little incident about her spending more time on social media than with me.
So, I simple asked if we can just talk this through before making that decision (via text) and she co to used to ignore me for days. I sent a few texts asking for a chance to just talk and she ignored me.
Finally after maybe 12 texts of trying to get her to just communicate with me, I felt like a fool chasing someone that literally just dismissed me like nothing. I decided to go ‘no contact’ simply because I had no choice- she won’t reply. Also with a little bit of internet coaching encouragement. But nonetheless, I literally had no choice since she won’t talk to me. It’s been 6 weeks now and it has been the most difficult time of my life. Lots of ups and downs. I don’t know how I feel or what I expect but I do love her and wish she would contact me, as I can’t get myself to contact her because I don’t want to be ignored anymore. I don’t do social media so she knows nothing about me or my life/feelings. I’m still wondering if she’ll reach out for some reason (?) I know my chances are slim to none and eventually I will forget about her, but being a realist, I do miss her very much and do still love her. Yes, I’m angry at her actions and a bit disappointed but there’s no ignoring our feelings and emotions. And mine are obviously still love. Any thoughts?
Hi Lee.
“I want to work on myself” is a breakup excuse meant to soften the blow. Don’t take it literally. She’s not going to work on anything, she’s the dumper. I don’t think she was ready for this relationship, hence why she avoided important topics and felt pressured.
Give her the space she needs, Lee. You must stop pressuring her and let her be in charge of her life. In other words, go no contact.
Best,
Zan
Me and my girlfriend broke off after 2 years of living together. We met at an university we are studying now and its difficult for me to see her on campus. Its much easier if I remove her from my life but the constant sight of her is bugging me to death. She initially asked for space that became a breakup after few weeks because she felt really happy about it. I have been doing no contact for about 2 months now. The trust has been broken so I dont think I can take her back even if she returns. I think the reason why she broke up with me was because I had no ambition and drive in life (pretty mellow), she probably lost interest in me. Now I am doing all I can to improve myself fundamentally and reflect on the relationship. I want to move on but I also want her to regret her decision (sounds weird). I thought we were very compatible. Wondering if she will ever come back to me. Anyways, I am doing my best to build my self esteem up. I wonder if she could see my improvement and decide its best to come back. Even then, I do not think that I will get back together just because the wonderful relationship I thought I had was sabotaged. It will never be the same ever again. Any advice for me? I really like your form compared to all the other relationship coach videos and such.
Hi Aaron.
Your improvements probably won’t make her come back. They will keep her when/if she does. To come back, though, she needs to become miserable and want your validation and support. My advice is to keep working on yourself and moving on. Your ex needs to get into a pickle before she can come back.
Sincerely,
Zan
Best article I have read so far and will be saving it to return to.
My ex-girlfriend broke up with me after two years of living together. Well… kinda broke up with me? She asked for space, but then said she’s treating it as a breakup, but could see us working out because she still loves me? She was struggling to tell me exactly what was the problem, but I assumed it was because I didn’t have a job at the time and was directionaless about my future. I had quit my really good job a year back to write a book, and I finished that book, but after, I didn’t have any new goals, and so I became cranky for about four months. Don’t get me wrong, I still had money to pay the bills, but wasn’t sure what to do next with my life and started smoking weed every day. What’s funny though is even when she broke up with, I was already going to job interviews, was a month sober, and picking myself up by the bootstraps so to speak. Well, I haven’t heard from her in a month. I did the mistake of reaching out and begging. When I got my new job, I sent her a long email saying now that I’m working we should try to make it work again. Well, all that stuff got my number blocked. I thought about showing up to our apartment, using the excuse that my stuff is still there, which about half of it is, but then I thought how crazy I was acting. She dumped me, and I was embarrassing myself. Do I love her? I love her more than any girl I’ve ever met. Do I want her back? Of course. Does it hurt? Yes, I still cry from time to time. But even if I were to convince her to come back to me, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself as being a servant to her. If anyone has any other comments, I’d love to hear, but I like the idea of implementing an indefinite no-contact rule. Admittingly, it’s not ideal, but at the end of the day, I think it’s the only real option. I did what I could. The rest is on her.
Hi Craig.
Sorry for being so frank, but she asked for space because she didn’t love you. She wanted to focus on herself and on other people as well. She didn’t leave you because you didn’t have a job but because she developed a negative opinion of you. Lots of people lose a job or don’t have a job for a while, but they don’t leave their partner. They support and encourage him or her.
Your ex focused on the bad stuff in the relationship and because of it, fell out of love and became resentful. You can’t blame yourself for that because people are responsible for their thoughts and feelings. Stay in no contact, Craig. It’s your only option.
Best regards,
Zan
After 2 years my ex-wife unblocked me only on Facebook Messenger. I continue to stay in No Contact. I feel that she should make the first move. She knows how to dump me so she can figure out that she needs to make the first move. Is this the best thing to do and why do you think she finally unblocked me at all?
Hi Bill.
Your ex has to be the one to message you. She’ll do it if she feels the need to. As for why she unblocked you, she probably realized that she went too far and that there’s no need to continue to act immature about it.
Best,
Zan
That didn’t last to long. I’m blocked again. I’m staying in no contact. In mysterious ways I find out her life isn’t so perfect. I don’t even spy on her and things about her just come to me in weird ways. There must be something going on in her mind. Anyway, at this point in my life nothing from her would surprise me. Life goes on and so must I.
Hi Bill.
Maybe things weren’t going well, so she unblocked you to check up on you. When stress decreased, she could then cope again, so she blocked you again. Whatever her reasons for unblocking are doesn’t matter. If she doesn’t reach out, she’s just wasting your time.
Best regards,
Zan
I just began No Contact a few days ago. It has already been very hard. My ex and I were engaged ( twice). The thing that came between us, and always has, is her daughter. Daughter had a rough childhood. So did my ex. Their family history is very dysfunctional. Ex’s husband left her when daughter and son were early teens. I started dating my ex in 1999. We are both about to turn 68.
My Ex’s history: father was killed in a bar fight ( an ex-con ). Mother was alcoholic and married 5 times. My ex was sexually abused when she was young. Sounds like most of her siblings were pretty messed up, at least one w/ drugs who did jail time. My Ex’ has 2 kids. The daughter, who has always been mistrustful of me, has moved back in with my Ex withy her 3 little kids after leaving her violent husband. The custody battle is ongoing but my Ex is basically her servant. I have treated her little kids like gold and they love me. But, because I had a discussion with my Ex’s son’s 10 year old about alcoholism, when he asked her about it, she went into a drunken rage screaming at me on the phone how horrible I was and that I should stay away from her family…and that turned the 10 year old against me. When I discussed that with my ex, her response ” don’t blame her. Kids change.” Really lame denial and enabling.
My Ex’s son is mid 40’s, lives in the same house as his 10 year old son and son’s mother, though they never got married, live on different floors and see other people. The 10 year old and I were very close up until the drunken rage of his aunt. I had seen every minute of every practice and game of his baseball “career” since he was 5. Now ? Won’t talk to me.
I think a lot of their behavior is self-fulfilling prophecy. They mistrust men. Assume men will let them down. Then make things very difficult for the men until the men snap, giving them an excuse to say ” I knew they would let me down” to themselves and break things off before they get hurt.
I have loved her with all my heart. But, the denial, enabling codependency thing seems to be in full control. I decided No Contact might be the only way for her to see just how much I have done for her, but not feeling very optimistic right now, to say the least.
She is basically a shy person and has few personal friends., and at 68, her chances of finding another man are probably pretty bleak. I am amazed and hurt that she just never has my back when it comes to her daughter when I have had her back for 22 years. I think No Contact is probably the only way she will realize how much I gave her, but with all the denial and enabling going on, not hopeful. really hurting.