The Grief of friendship

Something my prof said last night in class* really struck a chord for me.

For one thing she said, that in the same way we can be emotionally dysregulated (eg. having disproportionately excessive reactions to certain situations resulting in great distress), we can also be OVER- regulated, as in times where we don’t allow ourselves to experience valid negative emotions.

The case discussed in class was about feelings of hurt and betrayal as a result of the client being ghosted by a friend she considered close. Was it time to grieve or time to make demands? There is no right or wrong answer.

The second point was that society does not hand us ready made scripts about friendship and particularly ends of friendships. We talk of conscious uncoupling when romantic partnerships mutually and (supposedly mindfully) agree to part ways. But what of a sudden loss of friendship? 

Have you ever been ghosted by a friend? How did you feel and what was your response?

*The Transdiagnostic Approaches to Clinical Assessment and Interventions class