HRI Blog

Walking away from a toxic friendship is a painful, but sometimes necessary choice.  Once you have decided that this is the right step forward, it’s important to try and end the friendship in a way that doesn’t burn bridges nor complicate an already difficult situation. 

How can you part ways with your toxic friend in a healthy way?   Today, we are sharing some tips for an amicable “break-up” with a toxic friend. 

1. Avoid “ghosting” the other person and instead, aim to have a conversation about why you’ve made the decision to step away from the friendship, or why you feel that you need to distance yourself from them.  While you want to ensure they understand where you are coming from, you’ll always want to keep the conversation focused on you and not just their behavior, since it is likely that you have discussed these issues prior to the actual “break-up”.  
2. Avoid involving others in your friendship break-up.  Mutual friends shouldn’t have to pick a side and should feel free to continue being friends with the both of you, and bringing it up with others can make them feel awkward or dishonest. 
3. Move forward after the break-up and refrain from speaking negatively of your ex-friend. Whether a break-up is a permanent severing of the friendship or a distancing that occurred over time, you do not want to involve others in your friendship story, nor should you speak poorly of the other person. 

Saying goodbye to an unhealthy friendship is a tough choice, but one that often pays off in the long run — especially when it is done carefully and with consideration for the future. 

Emotionally unhealthy friendships can be difficult to identify, and painful to navigate.  Learning positive communication skills can help you discuss difficult subjects and express your needs and feelings effectively in relationships and friendships.  

Learning to use I-statements and actively listening in conversations will help you tell your friend how you feel, while understanding their perspective. Read here for more HRI tips on effective communication in relationships of all kinds.

A good friendship is one of the more important relationships one has in a lifetime. But just like romantic relationships, friendships can be difficult to navigate, especially as things change and life goes on.  What happens when a friendship becomes toxic? How do you know when to walk away? 

This week through HRI, we’re sharing some tips to help you figure out when to potentially say goodbye to a toxic friend. Our first tip is to learn the red flags of a toxic friendship so that you can identify them if you see them.

This article on Headspace provides some insights into possible red flags, such as if you feel worse after spending time with the person.

Practice makes perfect, and communication skills are no different.  Our tip today for returning to social interactions is to practice relationships skills often. You don’t necessarily have to practice these skills in person – staying in touch with loved ones virtually, but being intentional about those interactions, can help you begin to rebuild social skills that may have been lost in the past year.

Depending on your level of comfort regarding face-to-face interactions, you can choose to start engaging with the people you feel most comfortable with first – such as close friends and family members.

Practicing for a limited amount of time, especially at first, can help you build confidence about social situations that may worry you. Setting up a 30-minute coffee date with one close friend, or grabbing lunch with a family member, can be a great way to ease into in-person interactions. You can slowly build up those interactions as your comfort level increases.

Getting back into a “normal” routine will be difficult for all of us, and taking small steps – whatever that looks like for you – will ensure that it is a positive, comfortable, and safe experience for everyone involved.

For more HRI tips on healthy relationships, check out our blog at www.healthyrelationshipsinitiative.org/blog