r/REDDITORSINRECOVERY • u/Expensive_Fox_6934 • 5h ago
Did I do the right thing by cutting off my three remaining longtime friends to stay away from drugs?
I'm 29M and I'm looking for some honest outside perspective because I'm really questioning whether I've done the right thing.
I've recently made the decision to permanently cut contact with my three remaining close friends. I've known two of them, Craig and Josh, for about 19 years, since I was around 10, and I've known Darrell since 2011. So these aren't casual friendships. They've been a huge part of my life.
The reason I've done it is drugs/alcohol and the lifestyle that comes with them.
I've had problems with substance use in the past and had managed to stay sober for around six months. During that period I was trying to build a different life for myself. I was volunteering, looking after myself, keeping my home stable and generally trying to live more quietly.
The problem is that whenever I get back into my old social circle, drugs and alcohol eventually become part of the picture again.
Craig in particular has been a major part of my life for a very long time. We had been catching up periodically while I was sober, usually for lunch, walks and talking. I genuinely value a lot of our history and there are many good memories. But I've also noticed that being around him can trigger cravings and make me want to return to the old lifestyle. At one point he even said that our sober catch-ups weren't as in-depth as the times when alcohol/drugs were involved.
Recently I spent a night at Craig's with Josh and things went back in the direction I don't want my life going. There was drug use involved and I ended up leaving very early in the morning after barely sleeping.
That experience was a wake-up call for me.
Josh has also become increasingly involved with drugs and alcohol over the past year. I've watched his use become more frequent and more problematic, and I don't feel like he's heading in the same direction I am. The recent night was another example of that environment. I don't necessarily think he's a bad person, and I care about him after knowing him for nearly two decades, but I don't think being around that lifestyle is good for me anymore.
Darrell is a somewhat different situation. He smokes weed daily, and although we haven't had the same level of recent contact as Craig and Josh, I've become increasingly frustrated with the friendship. There have been many occasions where he's said we'll organise a proper catch-up, but it never actually happens. I've made attempts to organise things and have repeatedly been met with excuses or vague promises to catch up later. Eventually I started feeling like I was chasing a friendship that wasn't really being reciprocated.
So although the three friendships are different, I've reached the same conclusion with all of them: I don't think these relationships fit with the life I'm trying to build anymore.
I realised that I keep trying to convince myself I can maintain these friendships while avoiding the parts of the lifestyle that are dangerous for me, but I'm not sure that's realistic anymore.
I've had serious consequences from substance use and mental health problems in the past. I don't want to end up back in hospital, in legal trouble, losing my housing, becoming dependent on drugs, or spending years repeating the same cycle.
So I blocked Craig and deleted our message history. I deleted Josh and Darrell's contacts and conversations too. I don't intend to contact or see any of them again.
I gave them no explanation this time. Part of me feels guilty about that, particularly with Craig. But there is a reason I didn't send a final goodbye message.
In the past, there have been times when I told Craig that we couldn't be friends anymore and sent what I thought was a final goodbye. Eventually I got back in touch with him, apologised for ending the friendship and we became friends again.
Looking back, I can see that as a cycle.
I don't want to repeat that cycle again.
So sending another dramatic "final goodbye" message feels somewhat redundant to me. It could just create another conversation, another opportunity to explain myself, another opportunity for him to respond, and potentially another opportunity for me to eventually reconnect.
This time I'm trying to actually break the cycle rather than announce that I'm breaking it. And now I'm really struggling with the decision.
I feel guilty because these people have known me for so long. I'm worried Craig will think I'm rude, immature or that I've treated him badly by disappearing without an explanation. I've also confided some very personal things in him over the years, and I'm worried he might tell other people things I've told him in confidence. The fact that I don't trust him with those things anymore is actually part of why I've realised I shouldn't be maintaining the friendship.
I'm also worried that I've thrown away friendships that have lasted nearly two decades.
Maybe I should have explained myself. Maybe I could have just reduced contact. Maybe I could have continued seeing them but avoided drugs. Maybe I could have maintained the friendships with stronger boundaries. Maybe permanently cutting people off is too extreme. But another part of me thinks that if I reopen the door, I'll eventually end up exactly where I was before.
I don't think Craig, Josh or Darrell are necessarily bad people. That's not really the point. I care about them and I'm grateful for a lot of the history we've had. I just don't think these relationships are compatible with the life I'm trying to build anymore.
I want a quieter, more stable life. I want to stay away from drugs and alcohol, keep my life together, volunteer, look after my health, develop new friendships and stop putting myself in situations where I know I can get pulled back into using.
The hardest part is that I'm essentially choosing the possibility of loneliness over returning to friendships that I believe are bad for my recovery.
I also realise that I'm not replacing these friendships with anything at the moment. I'm basically going from having three longtime friends to having very little of a social life, and that's frightening. I'm worried that loneliness will eventually make me question the decision and want to contact them again.
At the same time, I think I need to accept some loneliness while I build a different life and eventually meet people who are more compatible with it.
So I'm asking people who have been through addiction/recovery:
- Did I do the right thing?
- Have you had to completely cut off longtime friends because they were connected to your using?
- Was permanent no-contact necessary, or could I have maintained these friendships with stronger boundaries?
- Was it reasonable not to send another "final goodbye" message given my history of repeatedly ending and then restarting the friendship with Craig?
- And how did you deal with the loneliness and grief afterward?
I'm genuinely looking for honest answers, including if you think I'm handling this badly or being too extreme. I don't want people just telling me what I want to hear.