Friendship Recession

The New Saddening Reality

The entire world population is witnessing a stark decline in relationship status especially in the sphere of friendship. It was considered a bond for a lifetime but has become brittle, and nowadays, it debacles very often. Born of this ultimate crisis is the term ‘Friendship Recession’. It is an intriguing phenomenon that may envelop all human beings.

The term friendship oversimplifies the complex and intricate dynamics of a relationship. And, It is indeed no means to measure the fathom of it but it is undoubtedly built on the foundation of trust, equality, and empathy embedded with genuine concern for each other. Moreover, it reminds you of happy moments and one tends to reminisce about those memories. Friends are like a bouquet of flowers, each one distinct from another yet coming together to make a complete bunch, spreading its sweet fragrance. I am convinced that each one of us wishes to behold one such bouquet.

August was the month of friendship and our wrists were adorned with colorful, unique bands that echoed our spirit of friendship. In a recent survey, I came across a contrasting picture related to the reality of friendship, and the term ‘Friendship Recession’ seems yet to be just a mere concept, especially in my surroundings.

Friendship psychology embodies attachment, social support, and reasoning but emotions and sentiments water those feelings of affinity and tenderness that incessantly grow over time between peers. However, job migration, career opportunities, the pursuit of higher studies, the impact of COVID-19, dependence on technology, and marriage may tend to cast a shadow on this endeavor but one should try to keep the flames ignited. Contrarily, if not done so, the cloud of solitude may drench one with innumerable health issues; like depression, phobias, social anxiety, etc.

In a recent survey conducted with more than 190 people, it was evident that friendship has not yet lost its charm. The figures reveal that a little more than one-third of the people have one or two close friends or even have 3 to 5 friends.

Furthermore, half of the people have confirmed that they have one or two close friends whom they can connect with during times of worry or crisis and the same number of friends are trustworthy.  The concept of ‘friends forever’ still exists. In addition, to whichever age group they belong to most people have friends from school. Hence, this is an aspect of life that cannot be ignored. If the drought of friendship hits you, it may drift you towards loneliness. The halo of solitude may eclipse your happiness and sanity.

Friendship is like that four-leaf clover hard to find and difficult to cherish for a lifetime. You can only inculcate a healthy friendship with a desire to cling to it. Moreover, you must project vulnerability and embrace everyone as who they are, and this is how the phenomenon of the ‘Friendship Recession’ can be evaded. Thus, conquering the saddening reality and embarking on a wonderful life.

BIBLIOGRAHY

1. The friendship recession. BIGTHINK. Richard Reeves. (https://bigthink.com/series/explain-it-like-im-smart/friendship-recession/)
2. Survey. Saanvi Verma. August 2023. (LINK TO SURVEY)