Hair breakage...?

hi! hey i used to have a perm and my hair was really long but now that im growing my perm out my hair seems t be breaking off :( some people cut all their off when they grow a perm out but i just decided to keep my hair and just let it keep growing without re-aplying the perm. but my har seems to be breaking off! does anyone know why and is there anything i can do to stop this breakage? or.... is this normal and basically i got to either get my hair cut or just continue to let it grow out because i dont think that my actually new growth is being damaged...? pleasereply back with your answers! :)