Accepting that a friendship is over might prove to be more challenging than anything else especially if you were truly close to this person at one point in your life. However, it’s not as easy to recognize and know when a friendship is over but there’s this distinct feeling you get.
An obvious and clear way to know if a friendship is over when there is a serious lack of communication between the two of you. This could be the limited amount of messages back and forth or the lack of making plans to hang out together. There is also a visible lack of interest that your friend shows you or to each other.
There are many more signs to know, so stick around to know them all.
The following will definitely help you recognize when a friendship is over and a few tips to help you cope:
Signs A Friendship Is Over
1. They Make No Effort With You
Friends who don’t make any effort to contact you or bother taking the time to catch up are those that no longer have any interest in you.
There are some cases where a friend might just be too busy with work and life stress but it becomes obvious when they show that they aren’t interested in communicating with you even when you reach out to them.
They will often try making excuses or simply not bother at all to find out what’s been troubling you.
They hardly care about your problems or want a real breakdown. The relationship is often superficial at times and may even feel like a chore.
2. Messages Are Often Delayed and Short
If you find that you are sending multiple messages only to reach a one-word response or a few short sentences, then it’s quite clear that they aren’t interested in talking to you.
Sure, there we could say that they are too busy but when this happens for months on end and you never receive a decent reply, you can be sure your friendship is not where it used to be.
Related Post: 8 Horrible Signs Your Friends Don’t Care About You
3. You Make No Plans To Hang Out
When your friendship no longer involves in-person contact and is only through social media, this usually means the friendship is over (yet not completely).
If either of you aren’t making plans to hang out together or catch up over dinner, and there’s this distinct unwillingness to meet up with this friend, then you can say for sure that the friendship is over.
A great way to know is to compare the past to the present.
If this friend is someone who you always hanged out with in person and most of your interactions were in person and less through social media, then, unfortunately, your friendship might be over for certain.
4. You Won’t Hear From Them Unless You Reach Out
As mentioned before, you will never hear from this person unless you reach out to them. Even then, they may not be forthcoming to you.
It becomes apparent when you are the person who only does reaching out compared to them.
A friend who doesn’t make an effort to hear from you is someone who just doesn’t have any interest in being friends anymore.
5. They’re The Not The Person You First Turn To
When you have something major going on in your life and you need advice or someone to talk to, this friend is not the person you turn to at first.
If you can think of the times when you no longer went to this person for advice or help, it usually means that you don’t have that sense of trust in them anymore.
It’s quite possible that you don’t feel like you can turn to this person because you’re unsure if they’re reliable anymore.
This is also a great way to know if a friendship is over and might never be the same.
6. You Have Different Friends
Another clear way to know if a friendship is over, if you find that you and that person now have different friends and run in different friend circles, it could just mean that both of you have different interests and tastes.
The interests that you once shared before no longer applies or can’t keep you together.
It’s very likely to be friends with other people but if you can no longer relate to this particular friend, it usually means that there’s no willingness to be in this friendship any longer.
7. You Don’t Miss Each Other
We tend to miss those that we are really close with and when we don’t see them often, it’s easy to feel sad and miss them on more than one occasion.
However, when you feel completely fine with the fact that you aren’t going to see or meet up with this friend, you don’t quite feel anything.
In fact, a friend that you don’t miss at all is generally someone you were never really invested in.
8. They May Even Lie To You
Another possibility to know when a friendship is over is when there are constant lies being told either to you or you are the ones making up excuses to get out of being friends with this person.
When there’s a distinct lack of honesty in a friendship, it’s incredibly easy to lose the trust and faith you have in this person.
See Also: Should Friends Be Honest With Each Other?
You’ll find it difficult to approach this person or will experience that fear if you tell them someone important, they might share it will others.
If you can no longer trust a friend with your deepest secrets, it’s hard to continue a close friendship with that person.
9. There’s No Interest In Each Other Any More
True friends love to know how you’re doing or share the joyous and sad moments with you.
They want to be around you and are interested in everything that you are willing to share with them.
Related Post: How To Tell If Someone Is Your Friend: 10 Signs Of A True Friend
The same applies to you too.
However, if you find that your friend is no longer interested in knowing about you or they feel like it’s boring and annoying to listen to you complain or share the good aspects of your life, then the friendship may be reaching an end or will so eventually.
10. It Feels Like Work or Chores When Hanging Out
If hanging out with this friend feels like a chore or something you are forced to do, then being friends with this person is something you should reconsider.
Friendship is something that needs to be a shared effort but if only one person is doing the work, then can it be considered a friendship?
When you’re the one constantly putting in the effort and constantly reaching out to this friend who isn’t reciprocating your attempts, then you might want to reconsider if they actually want to be friends with you so that you can move on and be friends who actually want to spend time with you.
Is It Normal For Friendships To End?
Yes! No friendship is ever set in stone but it’s quite common for many friendships to end mostly due to life changes, interests, and the people you meet and are influenced by in some way.
This can have a great impact on how you feel and interact with these friends. Most of the time, it’s because you just don’t have anything similar that you used to related to with each.
Once your interests have changed and so has the other person’s, it’s normal to gradually split unless both of you make an active effort to continue the friendship and seek new relatable things that can keep you together.
Why Does Losing a Friend Hurt So Much?
Losing any on you were once close to is painful but a normal process you have to go through. It’s not easy to let go of that friend who you once shared all your private moments with and shared many secrets with.
It’s also painful to remember the special moments that made you feel grateful to have this person in your life.
No matter how hard it is right now to lose a special friend you once could relate to on many levels, you have to understand and accept that everything happens for a reason.
Although it feels like the worst thing at this moment, it does get better in time and you will meet new friends.
See Also::Is It OK To Have No Friends? Everything You Should Know
How To Cope When Your Friendship Ends
Losing a friend you once cared for is never easy but there are a few ways you could try that will help you feel better over time:
- Accept that your friendship has come to an end and that you will get through it
- Allow yourself to go through the emotions of losing a friend yet still be positive that things will work out for the best
- Take the time to focus on things you love doing and invest yourself in positive activities
- Spend time with other family and friends who love and enjoy your company
- Use this as a chance to learn from your mistakes and look at the situation from a learning perspective
- Accept that change is inevitable where people and things will come and go for a particular reason
- Talk to someone about the friendship and get their advice on the situation while expressing how you feel
- Try making new friends with similar interests as you do since this is easier to maintain
Conclusion
With that a friendship is over, the best thing you can do is to accept it and let go.
There’s no point in hanging onto a person who doesn’t want to be friends anymore or show you a decent amount of interest in you and give you the respect you deserve.
Like any other relationship in life, a friendship needs to be worked on and if only one person is putting all the effort into it, the sad reality is that it will never last for long.
Losing a friend could be for many reasons that you may not discover right now but in time you will come to a realization why it happened.
It will take time to heal from it or you might feel guilty for no longer wanting to be in a particular friendship, all you really need to do is acknowledge these feelings but work on overcoming them.
You will feel better some time from now, that’s for sure.
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