Tips for Toxic or Unhealthy Friendships: When you decide to part ways

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.