8 Ways To Get Over A Friendship Breakup

Friends are for life? Not always. When a friendship breakup occurs, the pain can be overwhelming. Learn to overcome the loss and focus on the future.

If you’ve recently undergone a friendship breakup, I feel your pain. We assume that our friends are going to be there for us through thick and thin, that nothing will ever change and we have a ‘ride or die’ for the rest of our days. The problem is, life doesn’t always work like that.

People change, situations happen, misunderstandings occur, and sometimes we just drift apart. When you aren’t as close to a friend anymore and suddenly notice that you haven’t spoken for days, weeks, or even months, it can be a punch to the gut. I know, I’ve experienced it enough times in my life.

First, to overcome a friendship breakup, you need to give yourself time. Don’t simply assume that you can shrug it off and move on quickly. This is something you need to almost grieve, something you need to think about, make peace with, and then allow yourself to look to the future.

# Admit you are hurt

First things first, you need to admit to yourself that you are hurting because you have experienced a friendship breakup. The type of pain is real and it’s deep, so don’t try and avoid admitting it to yourself. Acknowledging that you’re hurting is the first step to recovery.

# Be kind to yourself

If you were experiencing a relationship breakup, you’d probably stay home, sit in your sweat pants, eat ice cream, and binge on Netflix to try and distract yourself. Why does it have to be different because it’s a friendship breakup?

A breakup of any kind is still a breakup, so make sure that you treat yourself with kindness to help you through the first stages of recovery and then continue it, simply because being kind to yourself is never a bad thing.

# Don’t dwell on the past

Of course you’re going to have memories together and you shouldn’t bury these deeply. They’re part of your past and something you’ll be able to smile back on after a little time, but for now, don’t dwell on things. Don’t go looking over old photographs and feeling nostalgic because you’re sure to suddenly start feeling down for no reason.

# Focus on your health

Once you start to feel a little stronger, it’s a good idea to focus your mind on health and wellness. Do some exercise, join a gym, do something which benefits your health and makes you stronger in the process. The better you feel within yourself, the easier it will be to move through the stages of grieving a friendship breakup.

# Vocalize your pain

Speak to someone you’re close to and express how you’re feeling. Talk about the friendship breakup and work through your feelings vocally. Keeping everything inside is not going to help you to feel better, and it won’t help you to process. By being open about how you’re feeling you’ll find it easier to move on.

# Explore your local surroundings

You’ve been through a friendship breakup. While you probably still have other friends, it’s a good idea to get out and about and expand your friendship circle. Meeting new people gives you confidence and helps you to realize that the world does not end because a friendship has moved on.

# Be honest with yourself about what happened

Is there something you can learn from it? Think about what happened and be honest with yourself. Don’t place all the blame on someone else if some of it is yours, but similarly, don’t shoulder all the blame if it’s not all yours to handle.

There is likely to be something you can learn from the experience, to put into practice in the future, and avoid the same thing happening again.

# Keep a check on how you’re feeling

After any type of breakup, friendship or otherwise, it’s easy to feel low. That’s normal. It’s not normal to feel extremely low or upset. Keep an eye on your mental health, and seek help if you feel like things might be slipping. This type of situation can easily affect how you feel on the inside and can act as a trigger towards depression.