Breaking Up Is Hard to Do — Even More So With a Friend

“Experts at Manchester University claim the bonds of friendship are so deep that splitting with even unwanted pals leads to ‘terrible’ guilt. And women in particular find it more traumatic to dump their friends than they do their lovers,” reported The Daily Telegraph on April 13.

Friendship breakups are a loaded topic. No matter which side you’re on–the dumper or the dumpee–they’re often fraught with guilt and betrayal and lingering “what-did-I-do-wrong” questions. And even when it’s quite obvious what was done wrong–she slept with your man, you threw her under the bus in front of the boss–ending a friendship can seem pretty harsh. In my own relationships, even when there have been times where I thought, “I just need to end this,” I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Too stressful. Too … mean.

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