When you think of friendship, you think it will last forever. We’re all used to romantic breakups, but friend breakups are not as common for most people. But here are some reasons friends break up.
1. Misunderstandings
Misunderstandings are difficult for everyone, so you have to have really good communication to move past them. Whether they are big misunderstandings or a series of small ones, if they are not talked out properly, it can break up the relationship.
Things can get completely out of hand and come in the form of an angry outburst that ends the friendship.
2. One friend gets into a romantic relationship
This is a very common reason that friendships break up. If one friend gets a boyfriend or girlfriend, they don’t have as much time from the friend. Even if they manage to go out with you, then they might be with their significant other or the meeting is shorter because they have to get back to their partner. The partner-less friend gets sick of becoming insignificant in their friend’s life.
3. Jealousy
This is a very petty reason that friendships end, but it does happen. If one friend is jealous of the other, then they might not feel comfortable in the relationship anymore. They could be jealous of anything from a new job to a new phone or anything in between.
Instead of being happy for their friend, they are jealous. This could not even be consciously recognized, but the energy is permeating the relationship in a negative way.
4. Third-person interference
Maybe one friend met a new friend, and the old friend doesn’t like that person *or is jealous*. If that one friend gets closer to the new friend, it could eventually break up the original friendship. Or, maybe there is someone who interferes in the friendship in another way such as talking bad about them to one of the friends.
5. Family and friends
Sometimes, families can dislike our friends or think that they are a bad influence on us. When this happens, it can be such a stress on the friendship that it ends the relationship. The parents may or may not have a good reason for thinking that the friend is bad. But either way, parents’ opinions can definitely end a friendship.
6. Moving
Life happens, and change comes with that. So, whether it’s moving and going off to college or moving across the country for a new job, that can end a friendship. It’s the old “out of sight out of mind” phenomenon.
Friends may make a promise to keep in touch, but it rarely happens. Life and distance take their toll on a friendship, and they just drift away.
7. Different stages of life
Maybe the two of you were BFFs all the way through college. But one of you got married and had kids right away, and the other is living the single life. Being married with a family and being single are two very different ways of life. The single person can’t really ask the one with the family to go bar hopping with them every weekend like they used to.
8. A big fight
Sometimes, a friendship ends because of a big fight. For whatever reason, the cause of life-long rifts between friends can end in a big blowup. Even if they thought they would be BFFs for the rest of their lives, a fight can change that.