Breaking Up with a Friend Is Always a Hard Thing to Do, but Here’s How You Do It

A romantic relationship is similar to a healthy friendship in the sense that both are a two-way street. These connections are built on a strong rapport, cemented by a fair give-take routine, utmost support, and bonding.

However, there is such a thing as a toxic friendship – perhaps you may feel that the relationship is one-sided or that you suddenly feel drained every time you talk to them. But how do you know if it’s time to bid goodbye to your pal and end what you have?

Red Flags

There’s a distinction between a toxic friend and someone who is just going through a rough patch in life that forcibly brings out their nasty side. This is why your mind needs to be 100-percent certain that throwing away something precious is the best thing to do.

Prostock-studio/Shutterstock — Friendship is a two-way street

One sign that you need to end your friendship is when your pal brings you down – be it your lack of self-esteem or when you’re down in the dumps, it is crucial that they are always there to support you in your darkest times, psychotherapist Amy Morin said. It is also a red flag when they come off as conceited and would only care about themselves, making the relationship one-sided.

Fizkes/Shutterstock — It’s also a red flag when they always ask you a favor but you can’t do the same

It may also be a bad sign when they always ask favors from you but you aren’t allowed to do the same to them. It can be extremely disheartening when your friend expects so much from you, particularly to fulfill their requests, and then they ditch you when it becomes convenient to them — so saying goodbye is the best thing to do.

What You Need to Do

You may be left clueless and hopeless on what to do because breaking up with a toxic friend is always a hard thing to do. You can shut them out of your life and even when they do try to contact you, you’ll just ignore them, thinking that they will eventually get tired and stop reaching out.

However, this doesn’t always work because best believe that some people can’t take a hint. This, or maybe you have mutual friends or there may be inevitable moments when you would bump into each other – awkward!

The expert said that the best approach would be to have an honest conversation with your friend. Lay down the reasons why you want to end the relationship and why you feel it has become toxic. Don’t expect that they will understand everything and it may just be normal if they would be mad with what you’re saying.

ShotPrime Studio/Shutterstock — They may get mad when you say what you feel

They may also say bad things about you or your friendship and that’s because they are hurt by what you’ve said. Although this doesn’t give them permission to lash out on you, bearing this in mind will help you think more rationally in dealing with them.