Losing friends in college is tough. Trust me, I’ve been there. Romantic relationships are not the only relationships you experience heartbreak for, you can experience friendship heartbreak as well. I personally think it’s even worse going through a friendship breakup. There are many different reasons you could be going through a friendship breakup. Maybe you are on different pages in your life, had a bad falling out, or maybe it’s as simple as you just grew apart. I definitely had my fair share of friendship breakups throughout my life for various reasons, but with each one I go through I come out as a new and improved person. This is how I cope with a friendship breakup. It is a natural course of life. Just like the seasons change, you change.
- Practice self-care
Friends should not define who or what you are as a human being. Take care of yourself by working out, eating healthy, and staying positive. Doing these things can help reduce symptoms of depression. I love to work out, and getting a good workout in during a time like this makes me feel a lot better.
- Examine what went wrong in the friendship but do not be too hard on yourself
Everyone makes mistakes and it takes two to tango. I find reflecting on what went wrong helps me to improve on what I can do to better myself. Assess what you want out of a friendship in the future and what boundaries you may have.
- Try making new friends
With having friends, I strongly believe in quality over quantity, but branching out to new friend groups can help. Exploring new friendships can help you get over the breakup and find others who are similar to you and share the same interests. After going through a friendship breakup, I became closer with other people who then became great friends of mine. I know without this breakup, I probably wouldn’t have become so close to these people. When one door closes another one opens.
- Talk to someone
Talking to someone you trust–whether that be a loved one or mental health professional–can act as a good support system to help you throughout this time and is beneficial to the healing process. I know when I go through a friendship breakup, talking to my parents, who have experienced similar situations throughout their lives, helps tremendously. Talking to my friends also helps. My friends and parents always show me the positives to the situation, like helping me realize I have other great friends in my life.
At the end of the day, friendships take a lot of work, and we will all go through ups and downs in a friendship. Just remember that you have people there to remind you that you have other wonderful people in your life and the hard times will not last forever.