Goodbye, my friend

One of the most painful things for me as an autistic individual who feels everything extremely deeply and who suffers from Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria is good friends drifting away. I'm talking about people I have shared very important moments of my life with, people whom I trusted and they trusted me, people I have supported and they have supported me, people with whom I had an important bond.

One day, some of these people started moving on/away from our friendship. They never said why, and I don't recall ever hurting them or wronging them in any way. I often even asked common friends their opinion and they also couldn't understand why that was. Mind you, I have friendships that have lasted for up to 28 years, and they're still going strong. So, I'm fully capable of maintaining long-term platonic relationships. 

But, it seems that for some reason, certain people can't. I do take it personally and it is hurtful, even though, I'm aware that not everyone can maintain long-term friendships, and it's not exclusive to me. Sometimes their own trauma and mental health struggles may be the reason we drift apart. However, mourning a friendship, or when a friendship turns into an acquaintanceship, is wounding, lengthy and sometimes, something I may not recover from. 

.        Picture taken by me, Hastings, England.