Hello @HazelHazelton ,
To start off, so sorry to hear that you have received this message from your friend. As mentioned by @Zig_RO , it is perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed or stressed about this incident as well as any strange or emotional response that comes along with it. As @Zig_RO has asked, I would like to ask if you have reached out to anyone on this matter, whether that be a close friend, family member or even a professional counsellor?
Personally, I feel you as well, I have had a very close friend of my own as well and I have ended up building a very strong connection with him as well. But as time went on, the relationship took a dark turn and my emotions and good will have ended up being used against me in a less than flattering way, any mistake were thrown and criticised very roughly by him as well and I was at one point slowly getting isolated from my other peers from him. Eventually, it started affecting my sleep and well-being, so in the end, with the help of my other friend, I was able to seek help with my counsellor to resolve the issue, leading to our separation as friends. In any case, although this has passed me, I sometimes still think about if things could have gone differently, but at the end of the day as @Zig_RO has mentioned, I decided not to dwell on the matter too much and not let this define who I am and what relationships I form in the future, there is so much possibilites of making new friends and connections and I feel that keeping my head high for the future helps me to move away from this point in my life and forge greater and stronger bonds with new friends 😁.
Finally, as mentioned in the post by @Zig_RO , it might be useful for you to look at the 2 articles (4 steps for Coping with Changing Friendships , 6 Ways to Look After Yourself When a Friendship Ends) that has been provided by @Zig_RO on changing friendships. Overall, I wish you all the best and hope you can overcome this soon 😊.
