I’m not talking about abuse, toxic dynamics, safety issues or situations where the friendship had clearly broken down.
I mean situations where the friend had done nothing obviously wrong, you liked them, valued the friendship, things seemed broadly fine… yet you still abruptly stopped replying, drifted away completely or effectively ghosted them.
I find it such a strange and painful thing to experience and I know quite a few people it’s happened to.
After enough time passes, I imagine reaching back out probably starts to feel awkward or loaded, which maybe makes the silence continue even longer.
But if you’ve done this, why? What was going on for you at the time? How do you feel about it now? Do you ever think about reconnecting or apologising?
I’m genuinely trying to understand rather than attacking anyone.