30 Times People Said Or Did Something That Made Their Friends Drop Them On The Spot

Part of the reason why such losses are so painful is that we can just go replace our friends on a whim. New York City-based grief therapist Natalie Greenberg told Bored Panda, "Friendships are fluid, fluctuating between intimate and distant moments."

"There is not one defining feature to distinguish when someone has crossed this threshold. For me, I would consider someone a friend if I could text them without formality — for example, send a question or a thought, without having to say, 'Good morning, how are you?' The conversation is always open and ongoing."

An American adult has an average of four to five friends, similar to numbers from 1970 to 2015, researchers reported.

2% of people describe themselves as friendless, which is also in line with data from previous years.

However, many people long for greater closeness with friends; although over 75% were satisfied with the number of friends they had, 42% felt they were not as close as they would like.

If you too are going through something similar to the people on this list, keep in mind that "approaching a loss of a friendship, especially after betrayal or abandonment, is very difficult," Greenberg said. "It’s important to allow yourself to feel the pain of this loss of a friend, even though it isn't a human death, or a divorce in the romantic sense."

According to the therapist, "Friendships can be extremely intimate, and one may experience the stages of grief in the aftermath. Some helpful strategies include journaling, moving your body, allowing yourself to feel sad, and speaking with a grief specialist." And if you think that sharing the experience online could alleviate some of the pain, maybe it's also worth a shot.