We've all experienced a friendship disappearing into nothing, and that's really painful when it seems to one person that the friendship is in a good place.
While a friendship fading or one person ghosting another, tend to be the most common reasons for a friendship to dissolve, Dr. Arianna Brandolini on TikTok believes she has the recipe for breaking up with a friend through conversation.
In a video that has since gone viral with stunned and negative attention, Brandolini portrayed two people: a friend and another ending the friendship.
The video opened with the friend inquiring about the state of the friendship:
"I've noticed you've been withdrawn and haven't wanted to hang out recently. What's going on?"
The person ending their relationship then explained:
"I've treasured our season of friendship, but we're moving in different directions in life."
"I don't have a capacity to invest in our friendship any longer."
The friend questioned:
"Is it something I did? This feels really sudden."
The other further explained:
"I get that it might be hard to understand, but I've been reevaluating many areas of my life recently, including my ability to be a good friend to you."
"I just want to be honest and upfront so I don't disappoint your expectations."
"I'm sorry if this feels painful or confusing. I wish you all love and success."
You can watch the skit here:
The video quickly garnered negative and bewildered attention as viewers on TikTok and Twitter attempted to process what they had just seen.
Some were incredibly frustrated by the ingenuine and even "robotic" vibe of the video.
Others pointed out how uncomfortable they would be if a friend spoke to them this way.
Some preferred ghosting or fading away over something as awkward as this.
Brandolini was surprised by the amount of negative attention the video garnered and explained there are "many ways" to end a friendship, despite the title of this video suggesting she had the definitive take on how to go about it.
This is a great reminder everyone has their own way of doing things, largely having to do with how they deal with emotions and what their love languages are.
It's important to take those things into account when having a tough conversation like this one, especially if you genuinely do not intend to cause them additional harm.
