It’s almost as hard to generalize about friendship problems—as it is to figure out how to solve them. Some situations may sound the same or have certain elements in common but when it comes down to the details, every friendship has a different trajectory based on a unique mix of personalities, circumstances and history.
When a serious problem does crop up in a friendship, it’s generally unexpected, disappointing, and very uncomfortable to deal with. Communication is key, but many times we’re at a loss for what to say or how to approach a sticky situation.
When another journalist recently asked me to identify some of the sticky situations that typically occur among followers of this blog, the 8 scenarios listed below were ones that seemed to recur frequently. I’ve provided a suggestion or two for resolving each of them.