Zaynab’s post to an online group:

Nusaybah and I have been friends since we were kids, but I’m really starting to think she’s bad for me. Don’t get me wrong.

She’s nice and fun to be around, but sometimes she can be really annoying.

Last week she called and “surprised” me by stopping by my house unannounced to take me out to eat, and I had to defend my PhD thesis in the morning! And this isn’t the first time.

She’s always making plans for me and my kids without asking first! And to top it off, she’s always telling me what’s wrong with my life.

Sometimes I feel like telling her to mind her business, but I chicken out every time. I swear, I feel so small when she’s around.

Any advice for dealing with overbearing friends?

Nusaybah’s post to an online group:

Okay, I’m not one to discuss my life online, but since this is a private group, I wanted to know if anyone can help me out. I’ve known my best friend Zaynab since first grade, and we’re really close.

But I don’t know if I should just break off the friendship. She’s not a bad person. It’s just that she thinks only of herself.

Any time we go somewhere or have a party (even if it’s at her house), I’m always the one doing all the planning, driving, and paying! I give everything to this friendship, and she gives nothing.

When I sense she’s stressed out but can’t talk about it, I give her advice or I try to surprise her by doing nice things.

But it’s never reciprocated. And when I say never, I mean never. She’s caught up in her own life, and whenever I try to talk to her, she gets an attitude though she doesn’t say what she thinks.

Any advice for dealing with selfish friends?

Friendship Is Like “Marriage”

But unlike husband and wife before marriage, friends generally don’t ask permission before deciding (and declaring) that a relationship exists.

Moreover, even when friends mutually agree to a friendship, they don’t openly discuss the seriousness of the relationship or the terms they will abide by. In a way, friendships are like marriage.

Two people decide to come together because they share common interests and beliefs, because they enjoy each other’s company, and because they have “mutual feelings” for each other.

However, in friendship, the commitment is voluntary.

Yet, strangely, we hold our friends accountable for not respecting the friendship or for not abiding by the relationship’s “terms”.

‘Will you be my friend?’

It’s a question children ask almost every day, and as I reflect on adult friendships, I’m beginning to wonder if we should take a lesson from our childhoods.

Just imagine how much heartache, hurt, and confusion we could save ourselves if we asked a potential friend, “Will you be my friend?” and subsequently discussed what we expected of each other in the relationship.

And what if we then draft a pseudo-prenuptial agreement before becoming “real friends”?

No, I don’t mean to suggest that we actually sign friendship contracts. But we can benefit from reflecting on what the lack of such a contract means for our practical realities.

Without a signed “friendship contract”, there’s not much we can fault our friends for not knowing, understanding, or doing in the name of friendship.

‘But We’re Friends’

I remember when I learned that a close friend of mine had a baby. A mutual acquaintance called to tell me, and I immediately prayed for the mother and the newborn.

Days later, I got an angry call from my friend because she was deeply hurt that I didn’t come to visit her right away. I was genuinely shocked.

How to Handle Hateful "Friends"?

Growing up, my mother didn’t receive visitors immediately after having a baby; visitors would come only after a few weeks had passed.

My mother felt it was unhealthy for a newborn to be exposed so early on to strangers—especially since the baby’s health and sensitivities are not fully known just hours after birth.

I honestly thought I was doing a good thing by waiting a few weeks before visiting. When I told my friend this, she said, “But we’re friends.”

Bad Friends, Friend Abuse, and Toxic Friends

Today, we are very blessed to have loads of books and research on human relationships. The fields of psychology and sociology have given us much insight into understanding the human experience on both the individual and the social level.

Now with a simple internet search, you can learn the latest expert information about dealing with bad friends, protecting yourself from friend abuse, and even ridding yourself of ‘toxic’ friends.

“A good friend can stand by us through thick and thin. But what if our closest friend brings us more problems than perks?” says Jen Weigel in the October 18, 2011 Chicago Tribune article titled “Are you a victim of friend abuse? How to recognize and cope with unhealthy friendships” 

Weigel goes on to say:

According to a study conducted by the Today Show and Self magazine’s websites (www.today.com and  Self magazine) in May of 2011, eight out of 10 people have had a toxic friend in their lives—yet 83 percent say they’ve hung onto them because it’s too hard to cut ties.

So why is it so difficult to get rid of these people who make our lives miserable? (Retrieved April 14, 2013 from here)

Though these studies are helpful in their own right—not to mention that they stoke our egos (especially when we imagine that we’re the martyrs in the relationship)—sometimes when I read blog after blog and article after article on this topic, I say to myself, “We can’t be serious”.