When Your Friend Ignores You
Did your friend suddenly start ignoring you? You may have been harassed after your last conversation or even blocked on social networks. Now you’re wondering what you’ve done and haven’t heard a sound from them for a while. They may even ignore you in public, which causes you additional anxiety.
The good news is that maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe your friend doesn’t even ignore you on purpose. As a more introverted person, many times I turned away from friendships when I needed to be alone, and I didn’t even realize that I was being missed until I recovered again. I’ve come across this too, and it’s best not to assume the worst.
Only your friend knows for sure why they suddenly pretend that you do not exist. The human mind is complex, and each person has his own set of triggers. In most cases, the reason will not be logical, even if in the future they end up offering some seemingly logical excuse. In fact, the real reason may have nothing to do with you at all.
But here are some possibilities that you may want to consider while waiting for them to contact you again:
Your friend suddenly had an emergency
They are going through something emotionally difficult
Are overloaded with studies or work
Your friend is angry or resentful
They think you’re mad at them.
They have social problems that you are not aware of
They were victims of rumors
Your friend is in love with you
1. Your friend suddenly had an emergency
The first and most obvious explanation is simply that something unexpected happened to them. Even if they are physically well, they may be going through the consequences of something serious, and that consumes all their attention.
For example, they may be faced with the death of a loved one or the sudden need to move out of their home. There are many possibilities. When someone is trying to deal with an emergency, probably the last thing they think about is going out with friends.
If it’s only been a few days since they suddenly started ignoring you, try giving them the benefit of the doubt.
2. They Are Going Through Something Emotionally Difficult
Similarly, your friend may be going through a period of emotional turmoil. Maybe something difficult happened to them, like an unpleasant break in relations, and they are completely devastated.
Everyone ends up going through moments like this, but not everyone takes comfort in telling their friends about it. Some people experience the opposite reaction and end up locked in the house for days or weeks. Even if they do not isolate themselves physically, they can isolate themselves emotionally and walk around without talking to anyone.
While it’s not a good thing for people to isolate themselves forever, and it would certainly be wise to check on your friend if you suspect they need help, it’s just that some people process their emotions this way. Do not be offended if they let you know that they need space or start ignoring you, because they ignore everyone.
3. Are overloaded with studies or work
Sometimes life can become unbearable. Perhaps your friend is not trying to ignore you at all, only at the moment his attention is completely focused on work or school projects. Maybe they are going through a particularly stressful period and their intention was not to make you feel bad.
If you suspect this could be a problem, consider raising this question the next time you meet with them. Get his attention and ask. Of course, don’t demand that they take their time for you, it’s totally up to them, but it may be easier for you if they have a mundane explanation. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was so busy at school!”This can happen to anyone.
If you’re a particularly attentive friend, maybe you can even suggest grabbing something from their plate so they can hang out!
4. Your friend is angry or resentful
Maybe your friend is angry about something and they blame you for it or they think you have something to do with it. A person who does not like to get into a confrontation with people or who lacks a certain emotional maturity may ignore him for that.
It may seem unfair, especially if you don’t even know what you’ve done, but some people find it extremely difficult to discuss their feelings. Often, these people grew up in families where it was not good to experience negative emotions, where it was impossible to disagree without offending someone, and where, therefore, everything was silent.
This has happened to me before to a person who had such an emotional background. After rather minor disagreements, they closed down and began to ignore me. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do. It was just the way a person responded to conflict in a relationship, and I wasn’t the first friend they started ignoring like that.
Your friend may suffer from a similar pattern. Think about other friendships they had, maybe among your mutual friends. Is there anyone else who has simply been written out of their lives for some random thing without even discussing the problem and trying to make amends first?
Communication is a basic requirement for understanding each other, and it is difficult to come to an agreement when someone does not even want to talk to you. You may just have to let your friend go until he recovers, especially if you have tried to contact him more than once.
Of course, all this provided that their “offense” was minor and was not something that he could know that would upset them ahead of time. If you are intentionally hurting them, then do not be surprised if they no longer want to deal with you.
5. They think you’re mad at them
Similarly, your friend may ignore you because he thinks you are angry or resentful of him. Remember your last interaction. Do you have reason to believe that?
This is not a reason to ignore you, but maybe they are trying to avoid confrontation. Try to contact them first and make it clear that you are not angry with them (unless you are). They may not respond, but if they haven’t blocked you, chances are they will at least read the message.
How Long Has It Been Since Your Friend Started Ignoring You?
6. They have Social Problems you didn’t know about
On the other hand, some people experience severe anxiety when it comes to social interaction. Sometimes these people seem very confident and outgoing at first glance, so it may surprise you that they are actually very alarmed inside.
People with such a temperament may need a lot of energy to interact with others, and maybe for your friend that energy has run out at the moment. If you think this is the case, give your friend an energy boost. They’ll probably come back later.
You keep asking yourself, “Why is my friend suddenly ignoring me?”Well, it could be because of something you didn’t even do. Is there any way you can get in touch with us and bring some clarity? Is your friend ready to hear all sides of the story?
You keep asking yourself, “Why is my friend suddenly ignoring me?”Well, it could be because of something you didn’t even do. Is there any way you can get in touch with us and bring some clarity? Is your friend ready to hear all sides of the story?
7. They were victims of rumors
While it is better not to fall into paranoia, there is a possibility that there are third parties in this situation. Your friend might have heard rumors or negative gossip about YOU from other people, decided that those stories were true, and suddenly started ignoring you because of that. It would also explain why you might have no idea what you “did” with them.
However, a good friend would ask you this first. They would not just believe the rumors without any evidence if they were really interested in friendship.
8. Your Friend is in love with you
Finally, there is always the possibility that your friend has developed feelings for YOU. It may seem like a strange proposal at first, but some people recoil when they start falling in love.
Your friend may think that your feelings are unrequited, and as a result, he finds it difficult to spend time with you platonically. Maybe the feelings just make them too uncomfortable to talk to you normally, so they started avoiding you.
How to handle it is entirely up to you. Maybe you feel the same way, or maybe the idea of dating your friend had never occurred to you before.
However, if you yourself have romantic feelings for them, be careful! It’s easy to create that opportunity in your mind and scratch your head for “evidence” that you’re being ignored for that desired reason. Don’t waste tons of energy trying to convince yourself of it. It’s a waste of time. Just ask them.
Actually, you don’t lose anything by asking (usually). If you are still communicating with them and you think that they will not react in a terrible way, bring everything to the surface. Show all your cards.