How to End a Friendship

Losing a friend is just as difficult as breaking up with a lover, but breaking up is necessary when there are many problems the two of you can’t solve. If that friendship brings more negatives than positives, then it’s time to let go. Friendships change and end. You have to sever that bond, but at least do it gently and humbly.

Table of Contents

Should I Termination?

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Stop if you don’t stop arguing. Do you think your anger will subside or true friendship will come to an end? Friends who fight are still friends and you can’t always expect perfection from them. But if two people argue more than they feel comfortable being around each other, it’s time to let go. Who wants to be with people who are always arguing with them? ^{[1] X Source of Research} Ask yourself the following questions to better understand the situation:

Does the disagreement happen only once or is it a long-term occurrence? If the disagreement cannot be resolved, then the friendship should not exist.
Is that more of an issue than friendship? Voting for different candidates is one thing, but if someone vehemently disagrees with your beliefs, then you should decide to break up.
Has something hurtful or disparaging happened that neither of you would ever apologize to the other? Do you feel proud/sad when you can’t say “I’m sorry” and move on with your life?

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Let’s end it if the two of you are growing apart, and no one wants to try to solve the problem between the two of you. Sometimes friendship will not end because of quarrel but because of indifference. It’s been a long time you didn’t want to call your friend to talk? Do you find yourself having a reason not to hang out together? If you’re in that situation, ask yourself if there’s anything you or your friend can do to preserve this relationship, or if you’d like to do it. Everyone changes—it’s a cruel fact, but it’s still the truth. Never argue when there is no reason to argue.

If you two are old friends, give it another shot. Everyone goes through hard times and it’s not worth giving up and turning away just because things haven’t been fun for a few weeks.
Being apart doesn’t mean two people will never be able to be close again. The two of you just haven’t been together for a while – that’s as simple as that.

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Compare a life “without” that friend and a life that friend “appears less of” with you. Switching from “best friends” to “I’ll never see them again” is negative and childish. Is it possible to meet the same goals less often? Do you feel sad when imagining life without them, do you feel comfortable? If you’re not sure if you want to end up with them, try seeing them less often. It will be easier, not sentimental, and more mature than completely making them disappear from your life.

Ask yourself, are you still willing to dedicate yourself to preserving this relationship? If the answer is no, move on with your life and end the friendship here.
If you know you’ll feel happy and won’t fall into sentimentality, boredom, or other negative feelings like when you’re around them, it’s a good idea to let go. Don’t mind mutual friends, activities, or other nonsense. If they don’t bring you any good, stop .

Really Stopping

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Gradually put an end to that negative friendship. If your friend just makes you feel tired, breaks the rules of society, end the friendship immediately. If the friend is a manipulative/hurtful person or you are afraid they will have a negative reaction when you end the friendship, take it slow. You don’t have to talk to them. Stop calling and texting, unfriending on Facebook, not showing up in places you know they might be, too.

If you are in danger, notify the authorities (administrator, school official, police) immediately. It’s no longer a friendship you can deal with on your own.

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Don’t hang out together until that friendship has naturally faded. Friends will then go to different schools, move to another town, participate in different activities and start playing with new friends. It’s a quick, comfortable process, and usually both of them will. To end a friendship gently without causing pain (let it go, if ending sounds too harsh), you should: ^{[2] X Source of Research}

Chat with them within safe limits. Please keep personal thoughts and feelings that you do not share with them.
Keep your distance from them. Try not to call or text. Do not answer phone calls or texts. Of course, don’t stop completely. But if you’re no longer friends, you don’t need to contact them as soon as something happens.
Decline the invitation to create distance. As the distance between you grows, stop spending time with them. In the end, they won’t call you again once they understand what you mean.

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End the friendship directly if you think you need to end things quickly. Want a quick result? Be frank first. Don’t let that friend guess why you’re not talking to them anymore, spend some time talking to them. If you simply don’t enjoy hanging out with someone, that’s just a little negative. But if that relationship is only bringing negative things into your life, old friends, or ruining your life, then you need to make a decision and tell them directly.

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Choose a quiet place to talk but should be a public place. Places like these help you leave quickly when you’re done talking or in case things get heated (maybe they misbehave…). Coffee shops and other public places are good options.

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Let them know your thoughts politely, firmly, and quickly. Straight to the point –“I don’t think we should be friends anymore” is the most direct and effective way to say it.

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Let the conversation focus on your problems. Don’t blame or badmouth them. For example, instead of accusing them of being an alcoholic, say, “I need more time to focus on my studies and cut down on the parties.”

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Give the person a chance to express an opinion. Make sure they understand your position. Letting them talk about their thoughts on the current situation is also important. However — that shouldn’t affect your decision either. You’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. Don’t change your mind for a moment.

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Leave when you’ve finished saying what you want to say. You may need to say sorry when you decide to end the friendship. But unless you’ve done something wrong, there’s no reason to apologize for choosing to cut someone off. Just say everything and leave.

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Set boundaries for your decision to end the friendship. No matter how you end the friendship, they will often try to contact you once or twice. Let them know if you want to talk to them again. If you are not clear about what you want, do not end things until you have completely made the final decision. If you remain ambiguous, then both of you will soon fall back into old habits.

If you’re willing to stay in touch with them, make it clear to them how you’d like them to contact you. You don’t need to be indifferent to someone’s existence just because you don’t want to play with them anymore.
If you never want to talk to them again, warn them of the consequences if they don’t listen. And like any other promise, make sure you follow through on what you say if they do too.

Resolve the Consequences

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Comfort yourself at the end of that friendship. Sometimes losing a bad friend hurts you the most. Either way, you had a good time. They are very calm, funny when the two are still friends. Losing them, no matter what happens, will still make you feel uncomfortable. It can be painful, agonizing, but it’s the best option.

Your friend may have a hard time accepting that. Either one or the whole person may burst into tears, plead or leave in anger. But no matter how you feel at the time, they can’t erase all the reasons you decided to end things.
You will probably feel guilty, it’s true. But remember, no matter what your broken relationship is, feeling responsible for the end of something that was once good is a normal emotion. It will fade over time.

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Control your anger – it’s not only good for you, it’s good for anyone, for anything. Maybe your friend’s tantrum is enough for both of you. Feeling hurt will quickly turn into anger, anger will cause you to behave inappropriately. If you feel the anger of both of you rising, take a step back and get out of there quickly. Like a cake on a baking tray, both of you will calm down faster when avoiding each other.

If they tend to be hostile when the two of you meet, you should prepare your mind for harsh words or even physical action. Wrap things up in public, bring another friend or write them a letter if you’re really worried something might happen.
You will feel angry for a moment if they hurt you. That is common sense. But don’t let your anger push you into negative, immature things. Once you’ve let the friendship go, let the emotions go with it.

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Be prepared to fight passive aggressions to come. It’s nearly impossible for you to completely stop with the person, especially if you still have to see them at school or at work. Passive aggression is a powerful weapon for those who are hurt, but it will only hurt you if you allow it. Get ready to answer brain teasers months after you’ve finished everything. The best weapon – is to completely ignore those types of attacks.

If your old friend was passive-aggressive, they may sneak up on you after you’ve ended your friendship. Try and remember that in the end it’s your fault that things ended and you shouldn’t retaliate against them.
You have completely ended your friendship with them. Don’t make things worse by trying to hurt or hurt them after you’ve finished it.

Advice

You have the right to keep and protect your own “joy”. If your friend steals that “joy”, this is a bad friendship.
Don’t allow friends or family to force you into maintaining a hurtful relationship. Think for yourself first.
If someone leaves you, let them go, your destiny is never tied to someone who has left you. That action doesn’t mean they’re bad people, it just means their role in your story is over.
Remember to always think about how they will respond to the end of this friendship as peacefully as possible.
Tell them why you no longer want to be friends with them and don’t be afraid to show your feelings.
End the friendship completely but politely.
But if they only have one more month to live, don’t stop with them. Be by their side.

Warning

Don’t ignore the signs of a friendship that has faded. Unless you’re saving it, things usually won’t get better on their own.
Avoid getting agitated and talking bad about your old friend to others. If you do, you may face the same consequences.

Steps

Should I Termination?

Really Stopping

Resolve the Consequences

Advice

Warning

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