Distancing yourself from friends

As an A-level student, I found that my friendship group has become severely reduced. I’ve become friends with people I never expected to but stopped talking to ones I thought would be around for ages… it’s just a part of growing up and finding yourself. You click more with some people than others and it’s not always someone’s fault.

Distancing from friendships

When I say distancing, most people think entire removal from a particular friend or friendship group and they’re not entirely wrong. I have found there are several ways of becoming distant from friends because of different situations that pop up, particularly around exam times. Sometimes it can be caused by disagreements and heightened tension due to the stress everyone experiences… or it may just happen naturally where you find yourself talking less and less as time goes on.

Separating yourself from negative influences can also be key to looking after yourself and your mental health, prioritising your work is always ok too because at the end of the day you carry those grades with you for life and allow you to access more opportunities later in life (seems a little daunting if you ask me!).

How to cope with reducing friendship groups?

One way I like to cope is by turning to games, art or even just talking to others around me about it, by having someone else’s take on the experience it can be really comforting and even create a stronger bond within a friendship. Sometimes it’s just about starting a conversation and making that effort to let people know what’s going on. If someone starts becoming withdrawn it may be because they don’t feel comfortable within that situation anymore or potentially because they are struggling with mental health difficulties, just letting them know you care and are open to talk can make the difference.

Moving on

Getting down about the number of your friends is understandable and I’m sure most people have been there. At the end of the day, the people you care about most will stick by you and the ones that care will make the effort.

You can read my previous blog about escapism through games.

Or maybe look at the blog by Alice about revision and stress.