Looking back over my friendships – especially the long ones that have ended or faded out – the common problem areas came about over either the introduction of a new partner or a major lifestyle change. There were a lot of reasons why one of my oldest friendships ended but a catalyst was that she was in a long-term relationship with a partner who I didn’t like, and when I then met my future husband after being perennially single, she didn’t like that it took away from time with her. Things tend to get a bit rocky when someone gets married or has children, which suggests to me that we find it hard to adapt to change when we’ve put too much emphasis on a friendship.