How To Deal With A Friendship Breakup

No matter how old you are, losing a friendship is never easy. Just like a relationship, friendships can end for many reasons. Maybe you two are in different phases of your life. You two might not hold/share the same priorities or values. There could be distance ruining it. Maybe someone isn’t getting what they need out of the friendship. Or maybe you have just been drifting apart. Whatever the reason is, here is how to deal with a friendship breakup.  

Grieve if you need to 

ITs okay to cry. Let your feelings out whether it’s anger or sadness. You may feel frustrated or betrayed. Whatever the reason is, you need to allow yourself to grieve. Especially if this friendship has been around for years, this isn’t something you will be able to get over immediately. It will definitely make you feel better if you shed a few tears. Let it out and know that it’s okay. 

Try not to feel guilty

Don’t ever feel guilty about a friendship ending. There is a reason why this friendship has dissolved, and that’s nothing you or the other person should ever feel guilty about. Unfortunately, that’s how life works. There will be people, friendships and relationships in your life that will end, and not all of them will remain in your life forever. 

Try to focus on other friendships/relationships

More than likely you currently have plenty of other friendships in your life. Try to focus on strengthening these, especially if this recent friendship breakup came out of nowhere. This may be something that motivates you to prioritize other relationships to prevent them from failing. Prioritizing other friendships will also make you feel more better during this grieving process. Hangout with people who make you feel good.

Don’t immediately trash all of your memories

I know it hurts, but don’t run and burn all of your pictures and notes from high school in a fire pit in your backyard. You know what they say, don’t make permanent decisions on temporary feelings. You may be hurting right now – and you may not want to be reminded of any memories with that person. But I promise, down the line you will love looking at memories of this person, even if you’re still no longer friends. Memories are always great to have, even if they brought pain at one point in your life. I promise there will come a time where you can look at the pictures and letters and not feel any pain.  

If you need closure, try and get it

Sometimes it feels impossible to move on and forget about a situation without closure. But in order to heal, you may feel like you need the closure. In a friendship situation, you may need to find the closure on your own. Maybe you need to write a letter to this person just to get it all out on paper where nothing is left unsaid. Sometimes writing down all of your feelings will be enough closure in itself – you may not even feel the need to send the letter. Try to figure out what type of closure you need or want, and try to get it as soon as possible. This will help you move on quickly, and give you the chance to grieve this loss. 

It may seem like losing a friendship is the end of the world. But I promise you, it’s not. Friends come and go throughout your life, and this won’t be the last friendship breakup you will have. Focus on yourself, grieve how you need to, remember the good times, and find closure if it’s something you need. There will always be brighter days ahead. I hope these tips will help you on how to deal with a friendship breakup.

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