People Are Sharing Why They Decided To Ghost Their Friends, And A Lot Of The Reasons Are Completely Heartbreaking
Note: This post contains mentions of suicide, sexual assault, disordered eating, rape, miscarriage, and depression.
While maintaining friendships takes a lot of work and requires a lot of communication (especially as an adult), it can be extremely tough to admit when you realize a friend is no longer putting in the effort.
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And even though you've tried everything from sharing your concerns to setting new boundaries with them, their behavior didn't change, and you had no other choice but to ghost them (aka abruptly cut off all contact without any explanation).
Giphy Capture / Via Giphy.com
Similar to romantic relationships, there are plenty of reasons why someone decides to ghost (whether they need space for mental health reasons or to end a long-term toxic friendship) — so to better understand why ghosting a friend was the only option for some, we recently asked the BuzzFeed Community, why they ghosted a friend (and if they regret doing it). And after receiving hundreds of responses, here are what some had to say:
1."She kept calling my newborn daughter 'Avery.' My daughter's name is Murphy, not Avery. I’m not talking once or twice but it happened repeatedly even after I corrected her. I felt like if you can’t even learn my daughter’s name (arguably one of the most important people in my life), then the friendship wasn’t worth it."
"We text about once every six to seven months now." —molleecoffey
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2."She left me on read when I told her my brother was entering rehab. That hurt more than I can explain."
3."I had to cut off my former best friend after he failed to check in on me after I had heart surgery. When I confronted him, he accused me of being self-absorbed. I just had heart surgery. It was a pretty big moment in my life."
"Literally just a simple text would have been enough for me, but he couldn't even take two seconds out of his day to do that. That's when I realized he didn't care about me, so I stopped talking to him. I don't regret that decision, and I would do it again."
4."He had some financial difficulties a few years back, and I (as I had good disposable income at the time) helped him out with food and bills. Fast forward to last year with the pandemic going on, I found myself with money problems. He offered to repay me for helping him out by helping me with my bills, claiming that I wouldn't have to pay him back. However, one night, he was at my place and we had been chilling out, drinking and watching Netflix. It got really late, so I started to set up a blanket for him to sleep on the couch. He proceeded to throw a fit because he assumed he was 'going to get sex as a repayment for him helping me out.'"
"He threatened to un-alive himself. He left and wrote a note solely blaming it on me (he's still alive, BTW). This situation made me realize all of the toxic, manipulative things he was doing over the years. I cut all contact and completely ghosted him after that."
5."I had a childhood friend blame me for the end of their relationship to their significant other because I didn't lend them money to fix their partner's car. This was the last straw in a long line of things that had happened before I stopped talking to them."
—Anonymous
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6."Our friend group knew that one of our other friends were sleeping with my boyfriend. I found out about it during my 21st birthday party in my house. The friend (we will call them 'A') was a relatively new friend. We became very close, very quickly as she lived by my house with her family. When I found her and my boyfriend in my bathroom together on my birthday having sex, I quietly asked them both to leave and didn’t let on to anyone what happened. I took a minute to cry and then carried on with my birthday party determined to not let it ruin it. Two weeks later, another friend confessed out of guilt that the entire group had known what was going on and nobody told me."
"In the aftermath, she was obviously not welcomed to my house and not welcomed to anything I organize socially. However, I suddenly was no longer invited places, because I simply didn’t want to be around my friend 'A.' Apparently, I was being unreasonable, was told I should 'let it go,' and that me holding onto this issue was making everybody uncomfortable (she had never actually apologized or taken any responsibility for what happened)." —Anonymous
7."I love my BFF, let's start with that. However, she gets really mad if I don't text and/or call her every day. We're in our mid-40's; we've been friends since we were 11 years old. My younger and only sister died recently, and she got mad I didn't call her after the service. I had stopped talking with her in the spring because of this. I've got a partner, a step-daughter, an aging mom, and a ton of nieces and nephews. I wish she would understand that yes, I love her, but my time is limited because we're not teens anymore."
"We've grown apart but she's still dear to me. I just wish she'd understand what my life is like. She doesn't work, or really have responsibilities, and I sometimes think she can't wrap her head around that idea. But I do love her. Always!"
8."My awkward ghosting experience with a friend was realizing when he wasn't at all who he made himself out to be. We had hung out for years, we lived near each other, we had friends in common, and we had the same thoughts — all was well, or so it seemed. But during our friendship, I constantly reminded him: I'm not looking for a date, I'm needing a friend. One day, I came home, and there were multiple Valentine's Day gifts outside of my door, and my mother was also with me; it was troublesome to explain to her that I had no romantic feelings for him. He didn't even ask me how I felt about him; he just assumed that I felt the same — so I had to remind him that I wanted him as a friend. A few months later, he asked me if we could date, so I told him 'no' and walked away. I offered to explain everything to him, and he refused to listen."
"So he gave me the 'I'm going to say everything is fine, but really, nothing is fine' attitude, and then blamed me for being 'the bad friend' and told his family that I 'used him.' Every time his family sees me around town, they ignore me. The very last time I hung out with him, we were talking about what we wanted out of life, so I said how I imagined my life (jokingly) as someone rich, in a rich loft, with expensive art and clothing and a bunch of large-breed dogs. He told me that he imagined me barefoot and pregnant, as a non-working housewife, playing best friends with his sister-in-law and 'keeping up' with her pregnancy times so that we could have children the same age as her children. They could grow up and be best friends together, and we could all be one giant, happy family. I immediately ghosted him because I didn't want to associate with someone who spent time planning my future, for himself, without once asking me how I felt, and implying that everything I stood for meant absolutely nothing to him." —Anonymous
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9."I let it slide after she accused my brother of stealing her makeup from her backpack. I ignored it when she was alarmed at how many Black people there were at a recreation center I invited her to for a class. The last straw was when a grown man reached his hands into my overalls, grabbed me and whispered into my ear something vile and walked away. She missed what happened but took the look on my face to mean that I was getting ready to shop lift and told her mother."
"Her mom then told me to straighten up and stop acting 'shifty.' Yes, I am Black and she is white. I couldn't ignore the behavior anymore."
10."She wouldn't get the COVID-19 vaccine because she's afraid of needles and still wanted to party and be around my newborn baby."
11."We both were having a rough time at our current jobs and wanting a getaway so we decided to go to Paris because of this great deal a travel company was having for New Years'. We spent almost two years planning and saving for the trip. The day we left set the tone for how the week would go: She almost made us late because she couldn’t find one specific scarf she wanted to bring. She wanted to stop at an ATM to get American dollars 'for the flight' even though we had tight layovers and there was no reason to keep cash on us. Once we got there, she complained about walking. She carried literally EVERYTHING she didn’t need with her and then complained how heavy her bag was. She refused to wear a coat that she brought but then complain about the cold (and ended up getting sick). But the cherry on top was her meltdown at Versailles."
"We both wanted to see Versailles, so we had a private tour scheduled. The tour guide gave us earphones so that we could hear her over the massive crowds inside. They repeatedly told us to stay together. There were SO many people. Well, my friend decided she didn’t want to wear her earphones, lagged behind our group to take pictures, and ended up getting lost in the palace. One of the two tour guides we had went to go find her, but in a place that size — it was a needle in the haystack.
We all had instructions to meet at the golden gates at 1 p.m. sharp. So at 1 p.m., she storms up to me, starts SCREAMING and cussing at me in front of thousands of people, then sits on the ground and cries. She screamed that we LEFT her and that she couldn’t get help because 'everyone speaks French' and had to call the police. This was a 32-YEAR-OLD WOMAN.
The rest of the trip was hot and cold. She just didn’t seem to be prepared for travel at all and found everything an inconvenience.
When we got back, we shared a taxi. I told her to let me know when she got home safe, and that was the last time I messaged her."
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12."I had a 'friend' in college who constantly shamed me for being a prude. I hadn't had sex yet, and she always found a way to bring it up in front of other people — including people I was interested in. Once, she told me that if I died, she'd tell my mother I wasn't a virgin so she'd be proud of me. I constantly told her to stop, but she refused."
"I finally ghosted her after we went to a casino together. I got drunk for the first time, and she ditched me at the casino to hook up with her ex. I never spoke to her again. She still tells people she doesn't know why I don't talk to her anymore." —Anonymous
13."My best friend of 15 years broke up with me first by text when I was diagnosed with cancer. The only thing I ever asked of her was a little space so that I could navigate the decision process around my diagnosis and treatment plan. To note, I asked for space from *all* of my friends and family at this time because I needed to know that the life-altering decisions I was making were mine and mine alone. This was, evidently, unacceptable because she sent me a text about how friendship goes both ways, and that I was being a bad friend. My heart shattered into a million pieces. About six weeks later, she sent another text: 'Are you done being mad at me yet?' I was deep in treatment and too exhausted and depressed to try to rebuild the trust and friendship we once had. I never responded to that text, and I never spoke to her again."
"Space and time have allowed me the capacity to understand that she was probably frightened by my diagnosis. It is years later, and I forgive her. But I will never forget that she deserted me at the nadir of my life. Actions have consequences, and some stains are indelible." —Anonymous
14."Well, we weren't actually friends, but she really wanted to be my friend. I 'ghosted' her because I knew I was (and still am) harmful to her mental well-being. She was recovering from depression when I couldn't get help. I was (and still am) at my lowest with my anorexia, depression, and all the other shit I have going on. I knew I'd drag her down with me, so I decided that I would rather not ruin another life."
"Do I regret it? Not one bit. She is (or at least seems) happy now. She has a job, she's off of her meds, she's in a stable relationship."
15."My friend and I had plans for weeks to see a movie we were excited about. We agreed to meet at a theater about 40 minutes away from our respective towns to even the commute for both of us. This friend has been kind of flaky in the past, so I double-checked with her the day before that we were still on for the movie. She confirmed our plans and asked me to purchase our tickets. When I got to the theater the next day, my friend was nowhere to be found. I called her, but she didn’t answer. Then I got a text from her saying she wasn’t going to make it to the movie, because she and her other friends had all decided to dress up as witches and do a photoshoot together. We’re 26 years old."
"I ghosted her because of the rejection I felt from her standing me up. Never in my life had I felt more alone than being in an unfamiliar town surrounded by groups of people at a movie theater."
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16."A friend came home from college (I could only afford community college at the time) and told me that she had become 'more mature' than me because she was living on her own and going to dance classes to meet boys."
17."My friend's mother hated me and I couldn’t figure out why. After a few months, I found out. Turns out she was telling her mom she was spending nights with me, when in reality, she was going to jails to pick up men. She wanted 'dramatic relationships' because she thought those had the best sex. She would come home really emotionally messed up, and her mom thought it was me."
"I told my friend to come clean so she could get help, but she laughed at my face. I ghosted her. I couldn’t handle that level of destruction and felt like there was nothing I could do. She was using me. I didn’t deserve that. No one does."
18."I had a BFF from high school who moved to Europe for college and started acting different, like 'Yeah, look at me. I'm so fancy, I use euros now.' The thing was I was happy for her because she was living her dream life — but each time she came back home for holidays, she couldn't help herself from downgrading me and throwing at me how sad and miserable my life was. At that time, I was suffering from depression, my parents got divorced, and everything was falling apart for me. I just wanted her to be a supportive BFF as I was to her. But then, one day she said to me: 'Maybe your destiny is to have a small and miserable life,' just to say that I would not be better than her."
"Now my mental health is way better. I am a happily married woman and teacher. I have a life I couldn't even imagine I'd have — and thankfully, without a toxic friendship."
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19."We were friends in high school, but now live far apart from each other, and check in every couple of months to catch up. I had two traumatic miscarriages back to back, and became extremely depressed. I stopped texting her back because I could barely function, and eventually she stopped checking in."
"It's been over two years, I'm finally seeing a therapist and on medication to help with my depression. I would love to be friends again because I really miss her. I feel so embarrassed and ashamed at how I treated her that I haven't been able to bring myself to call her." —Anonymous
20."My best friend of 11 years started dating an ex-boyfriend of mine. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that she constantly talked about how he liked her way more than he had liked me. She’d make comments like: 'I'm going to meet his mom. You never met her,' shoving that in my face. I had moved on, so this annoyed me. I didn’t care that I didn’t meet his mom — I had broken up with him because we were incompatible, and I wasn’t into him anymore, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hear details about him constantly."
"The final straw for me to ghost my ex-best friend was when I called her to talk to her about a miscarriage I was going through with my current boyfriend and instead of listening, she wanted to talk about how much she looooooved her boyfriend. I remember telling her she wasn’t in love, she had only been with him for a month. I also threw it in her face that she was getting 'my leftovers' and that she was better than that. I didn’t want them to break up; I had no control over that. The only thing I could control was to take myself out of that situation. So I did. I blocked her every single way I knew how and it’s now been over a year since I’ve heard from her." —Anonymous
21."When I was in 8th grade I became friends with someone a year younger than me. He was nice enough, sure, but he would say really homophobic or sexist stuff on occasion (almost never, but sometimes the stuff he said was awful). The last straw was when he purposely misgendered and deadnamed one of my friends."
"I, of course, called him out on it and hoped he’d at least apologize — but nope, he just denied being transphobic and tried to pass it off as thinking it’s weird to change your name."
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22."I had a friend I had known for years, and I started to realize I had feelings for her. I was scared and confused about my sexuality, so I ended up ghosting her for about nine months. I ended up hanging out with her again one day, and a year later, we’re dating!"
"We laugh about it now, but I feel terrible about all the pain I caused her just because I was scared."
23."She kept trying to sabotage my wedding, no idea why. She blurted out to everyone that my photographer had recently gotten out of jail after I’d asked her not to embarrass them about it. Then she tried to molest a guest with unwanted sexual advances to the point where the guest came to me to ask for help. Finally, the last straw was her calling me on my honeymoon to explain why I should have my marriage declared legally invalid because she felt I wasn't capable of giving consent due to me being under anesthesia a week before. I burned the bridge and that’s it."
"When I told her that I was most certainly capable of consenting to sign the marriage certificate, she countered with accusing me of not believing in therapy — therapy I’ve been in for YEARS when she’s the one who won’t go to therapy. Do I regret this? Of course. She was my best friend, I miss her and her family, and I haven’t been able to trust people or make a single friend since. But can I cope with all this? No, I can’t. This was too much to ask."
24."She called me while she was on a long drive and said, 'You know, I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel when I call you.' We had been friends for over 10 years. I helped her through a horrible breakup, supported her in a difficult medical diagnosis, was always there to listen. I hung up and blocked her. I am no one's bottom of the barrel."
—ehch
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25."It’s pretty messed up, but I planned on ending my life and didn’t want to worry the few friends I had. I ghosted them and hoped that they would forget about me so my death didn’t hurt them."
—Anonymous
26."I ended up ghosting one of my oldest friends from childhood (we are now both in late 20s) because I didn't recognize the thoughtless, self-obsessed person she had become. She only came to visit me once in nine years but got offended when I didn't travel across the country for all her parties and events, she expected presents sent on her birthday but routinely 'forgot' mine (which she had celebrated with me growing up every year and is only two days after hers), and she stood by laughing while her boyfriend (now husband) was openly homophobic to me. I tried explaining a dozen times how her behavior hurt me and how I missed our closeness, but she always blew me off and said I was exaggerating or only upset with her boyfriend because I had a crush on her (I do not — she's just homophobic)."
"The last straw for me came when she didn't RSVP to my wedding by the date required, ignored my messages reaching out, then sent me her and her husband's menu choices with a week to go before the actual wedding. I told them they had been listed as 'not attending' due to their failure to respond in time and then blocked her. She had the nerve to send a load of text messages asking why she couldn't see me on Facebook anymore and if I could re-send wedding venue details! I ignored them and haven't spoken to her since. My life is better without her but I still miss the friend I once loved so much."
27."She was incredibly manipulative and toxic. Every time we hung out, she would do nothing but constantly tear me down and belittle me. She was controlling and possessive and hated me spending time with anyone else. It triggered several severe bouts of anxiety and caused me to end up on medication."
"Even getting a text from her put me on the verge of a panic attack, and I couldn't cope. Ghosting was the only way to protect myself. I don't regret it and honestly, wish I'd done it sooner."
28."I had a colleague who turned into a good friend. We were close for three years. I got pregnant, she was supportive throughout, even threw me a baby shower. Once my child came, everything changed. I had to switch jobs due to child care. She was constantly telling me how stupid my new job was. She constantly made me feel like an idiot. One day, she invited me and my child over. At the time, my baby was just barely crawling. My baby pulled her dog's ear and she lost it. She told me my baby was horrible and hurt her dog"
"She was so upset at my maybe ten-month-old, who had no clue what had just happened. That was my final straw. I packed my stuff up and never looked back."
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29."My friend group started hanging out with a couple that I didn't really like. Nothing bad — their personalities just didn't spark joy but I could still be around them. So I figured they would be more like acquaintances to me and friends to the rest of the group. I'd still go to the occasional dinner or game night to hang out, but then I started noticing that on every occasion, one — or both of them — would make a borderline racist/ignorant comment at me (an Asian American). I chalked it up to them being from predominantly white suburbs. I politely corrected their ignorance, and kept it pushing. (Meanwhile, my friends are from similar backgrounds and have never said ignorant shit.) Eventually, the comments went from borderline to full-blown racist, complete with stereotypes that aren't even worth repeating because of how basic they were. It made me pull back a lot from the group, and this wasn't even what caused the ghosting yet!"
"I assumed that I was the only one that caught the comments, so I finally told my friends about it and they reacted with a 'Huh, yeah, that's how they are.' They didn't say I was overacting or maybe mistaken, just nodded and defended their friends. This was at the height of the anti-Asian hate crimes this year, so I definitely was hyper aware and sensitive to this kind of stuff. But they've definitely advocated against AAPI hate when everyone else was saying it or championed how they'd defend someone if it happened in front of them — and yet, they didn't. There was no support whatsoever. Their non-reaction really changed how I thought of them and is, ultimately, what led to the ghosting, which is a shame because I've known them since college. Coincidentally, I have been looking to move and think a break might be for the best, so I probably won't bother keeping in contact with them when I do." —Anonymous
30."I had been friends with this girl for over twenty years. On my birthday, she sent me a picture of a dog she was dog sitting and said, 'This handsome guy' and no 'happy birthday.' Then I lost two family members within a 24 hour period. I told her, and she didn’t even acknowledge it. It was at that point I knew she couldn’t see anything past herself."
31."I'm Autistic and have never felt much of a connection to almost all of my friends. I've ghosted dozens over the years and not felt once ounce of guilt or regret. As Arnold Rimmer once said: 'I have come to regard you as... people... I met.'"
32."We were pretty good friends for a while, but there was something toxic and narcissistic about him. What really made me rethink (and, ultimately, choose to ghost) this friendship were two factors: 1) On my 25th birthday years ago, he showed up late and started complaining about the restaurant I had chosen to celebrate at (I created a poll on Facebook, and sushi was the most popular choice). He constantly complained about how my plans for my birthday dinner were stupid because they did not cater to his needs or what he liked to eat."
"2) We had a discussion regarding a TV show we both liked, and when I presented an opinion that he disagreed with, he proceeded to constantly interrupt me and tell me how I was wrong. A few months later, I posted a picture of a duckling on Instagram, he commented with his opinion, and I commented with mine. He then proceeded to say that all I cared about was being right. Over a picture of a duckling...really?"
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33."I ghosted because she had been a toxic friend for years but convinced me she was an amazing friend and made me feel guilty whenever I got angry at something she did because 'of all the things she’d done for me.' The icing on the cake was when I found out she had slept with my ex who I was still in love with and sleeping with myself."
"I cut all ties immediately after finding out, even though it was months afterward, and I had the worst guilt about it. Toxic friendships mess you up just as badly as toxic relationships."
34."She was a girl I had wholly trusted; she was one of my closest friends. So when I was sexually assaulted by my housemate, I ran straight to her house. I was crying and shaking and I could barely talk. I always like going to her when I was upset because she would distract me with something else and I could forget what I was worried about. Well, on top of realizing that this method was less about me and more about her not interested in listening to my problems, I also discovered that when I reported the assault and asked people who were involved (or who had witnessed the impact it had on me) to send a statement, she never actually sent one. She'd told me she would. She even cryptically told me she wasn't going to lie for me, despite me never asking her to. I think she guessed I'd never see the statements, but I was shown them by the case investigator and she hadn't written one."
"To be fair, she had always been absolutely awful as a human being, and I don't know a single one of our mutual friends who don't have a hateful story to tell about how she's mistreated them — but I've always stood up for her and still invited her to events anyway. But this was the last wake-up call for me. I couldn't forgive her for this after she saw me in the state I was in and after she knew I had spent six months in the darkest hole of my mental health, so I officially cut ties. I don't encourage our friends to invite her to things anymore and because they have a lot less patience than I do, everyone was all too happy to see her leave our lives for good. My attacker was found guilty of sexual assault, despite her not sending a statement — and that's the biggest relief to me since this whole disaster."
35."I dated A LOT and fell in and out of love easy — but she judged me for it, often. But when I fell in love with my now-husband of 17 years, and voiced my fears of the future, she said, 'Well, you're both so desperate for love, you will MAKE it work out.' Right then and there, I realized she was a narcissist and was never supportive of me. I just never called her back. It was the best thing I ever did — plus, I heard it still drives her nuts that she doesn't know why. Ha!"
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36."Earlier this year, I saw two people I considered my closest friends for the first time since the pandemic. (It’s actually three people, a husband, wife, and daughter — but the husband wasn’t there at the time). They tried to hug me, but I said I wasn’t comfortable with that yet, but I had the vaccine and I assumed they had it to since I didn’t think they would have tried to hug me otherwise. Well, I talked to them for a bit to catch up, they took their masks off (this was at a time where places said vaccinated people don’t have to wear them), but I kept my mask on just to be safe. However, after talking to them for like 15 minutes, I found out they were not getting the vaccine and one of them went on this long spiel about how she didn’t believe in it, and I just felt so disgusted that they’d put my and others' health at risk like that. I made an excuse to leave and although I've seen them hanging out at the same place a few times since then, I’ve avoided them."
"They've said 'hi' to me like nothing has changed, and I've said 'hi' politely but would just leave when before, I would sit and chat for hours. It really hurt to cut them off because I truly loved spending time with them but even now, when I seen them, they’re still walking around maskless. I know it’s possible they could have changed their minds, but just the fact that they were so careless in the first place and were acting like nothing had changed when they first saw me, made me lose my respect and trust for them."
37."I gave her a job, let her live rent-free, cat-sat for months at a time, and helped her through everything. She rewarded me by trying to get me fired to cover up her own plagiarism."
38."There are a lot of reasons why I ghosted: She was always late. She would ghost for weeks. Once, during my very busy end-of-school-exams time, she showed up an hour late to go hiking. The final straw was when I invited her to be my guest at a dear friends' wedding. They were having a three-hour Cambodian ceremony. She didn't fill out any of the required paper work that was needed to get into the venue. I reminded her the week of where the location was and at what time. She knew it was a lengthy Cambodian ceremony that usually takes three days, but was being squeezed into an afternoon. The day of, however, I don't hear from her at all. I get to the venue and wait outside for a few minutes. She finally answers and says, 'I'll get there in a few hours, or you know, I might not make it.'"
"I was so hurt. There were two other friends who would have really enjoyed this tea ceremony, but I chose her because I knew she was going through a tough time. I told her not to come, since I didn't want her walking in mid-ceremony. I enjoyed myself, but right as I was about to leave, she shows up, four hours late. I told her that I had to get back to my school work. She got really huffy with me and we never spoke again after that." —Anonymous
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39."I ghosted a friend after my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I helped this friend move multiple times, was a regular pet-sitter for her, and tried to be supportive when her relationships ended — but my mom started to get sick and this friend was not supportive in return. She never asked how my mom was doing and she always acted surprised when I brought up that my mom was sick and going for tests."
"She would always bring the conversation back to her problems. I decided it was more important to focus on my family, and I stopped initiating conversations with her. The few times I heard from her were when she wanted favors. Each time she never asked about my mom so I never responded." —Anonymous
40."My best friend of eighteen years made out with a guy I was dating right in front of me despite me having to tell her in advance not to try anything with him (I know, hindsight, right?), and subsequently, she brought him home. I struggled with this but I eventually forgave her, because the friendship was worth more to me than any guy could ever be. Somehow, though, I got the blame for this: she called me one morning when I was in a very deep depression and said she needed to not talk to me for a while because I was apparently the source of all her troubles in life — that was news to me!"
"The worst part of it, and the moment when I finally decided to cut her out of my life, was the day she texted me to let me know she was ready to continue the friendship. I got the text while I was being admitted to a psychiatric hospital due to trauma I received from the same guy who raped me, which was during the period she decided to cut me out. It was the most difficult time of my life, and I couldn't even tell my best friend about it. Several years later, and I'm happy, healed, and thriving in life and in a solid long-term relationship with my future husband. Swings and roundabouts, I guess!" —Anonymous
41."I had enough of how she treated situations as if she was the victim, when, in fact, she was the one who made small problems turn into unnecessary drama. When things don't go her way, she'll A) Harass and gaslight the person until they rescind, B) Ask other friends (who don't know the whole story) to 'talk' to the person (letting them do the dirty work), or C) Shit-talk about the person on social media and change the narrative to make her the victim. She was my best friend and I've always called her out on this behavior, but she never listened and always insisted that what she was doing was right, and that she is a 'justice warrior' (her words, not mine)."
"I think I've started to suspect her of having a 'Inferiority superiority complex' (i.e. generally having a giant-ass ego where she thinks she's better than everyone and can 'save' them from their problems, while also having very low self-esteem and constantly engages in negative self-talk). Afterwards, she became hostile towards the guy she was seeing (only because his friends didn't like her). The last straw was when she still refused to take responsibility for her actions and behavior towards the situation that it alienated everyone (even the guy, who then called it quits). And she wonders why no one likes her."
—Anonymous
NBC/Peacock / Via Giphy.com
42."I had to ghost a friend recently because of her husband. He is a total sleaze ball and used to make inappropriate comments about me, groped me without my consent, and even pulled a knife on a guy I was flirting with. He got sober, but when we were at a recent party, he still continued to make comments on my looks and was comparing his wife to me in front of her."
"She is a little insecure in the relationship (he's cheated before) and the night culminated in her basically going on a slut-shaming rant. I realized that I was just done with that whole dynamic, blocked them both on social media, and moved on." —Anonymous
Have you ever had to ghost a friend? Do you regret doing it or did you feel better after the fact? Let us know in the comments below.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and clarity.