Aspie Friend's hurtful behavior
I am friends with another woman I met at an aspie support group (actually, it covers people who have HFA and related issues). She has very limited interests but we used to get together to talk and go out to lunch. She even said that she would like to go on a double date with myself and my boyfriend. All of a sudden, she sent me an e-mail telling me that she was stressed out and would not be good company right now. I sent her an e-mail asking if everything was o.k. and she got mad and sent me an e-mail saying that her problems were personal and asked me not to e-mail her again about this issue.
I am hurt by her behavior. It feels like she is saying "It's none of your business, so @#$$$% off." I don't like the way she is treating me right now, so I have decided just to leave her alone and not attempt to contact her anymore. I just am so hurt because I thought she was my friend. That is the second frienship to go down the toilet this year. I think this is her way of saying that I'm not good enough to be her friend. So I'll guess I'l just leave her alone. I was only expressing concern toward her and she reacted by getting angry. I just don't understand.
KaliMa
Veteran
Joined: 8 Feb 2007
Age: 63
Gender: Female
Posts: 960
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Maybe she is embarrassed about whatever the problem is. It probably is nothing to do with you, it's just some issue with her. Don't take it personally; it doesn't say anything about your worth.
If you're still willing to be friends with her I would send her an email like "I'm so sorry you're having a hard time; let me know if there's anything I can do to help" and then not pursue her any further. She should know from that email that you will still be friends with her, and If she doesn't want to have anything more to do with you then its up to her to not contact you again, and if it is just her then she will get in touch when her issue clears up.
If you don't want the decision to be up to her, if you can't excuse the way she talked to you, just drop her. You certainly have the right to be offended about her behavior. It's up to you, of course.
Pundit23
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 6 Apr 2008
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 67
Location: Look Behind You.
From what I have learned, you have two choices:
If you're not interested in being friends with her after this, drop it.
If you want to continue being friends with her, write it off as a sore subject and pretend it didn't happen. Because what is she supposed to do, apologize that she was feeling angry for right reasons? Best case scenario, she'll feel guilty, and you probably dont want that. Worst case, and she'll get angry that 'you're so insecure.' (I'm not calling you anything, those were the words a friend who happened to be a girl used on me in a parallel situation to yours.)
Take it over leave it.
Your attitude is deplorable. They met in a support group; there was no indication that this is an internet-based issue - in fact, the fact is mentioned that they lunched together regularly. Only the final issue took place online. How about taking a moment to re-read, and then respond more on the subject being discussed instead of an opinion platform.
M.
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Probably best to give her some space for now- the initial communication from her seemed to indicate that she simply needed to be "left alone" for a while and I can definitely relate to that feeling. Your then asking her if everything was OK was probably seen (rightly or wrongly) as intrusive and nagging, when she had already said she just needed some space for a while.
Give it some time, once she gets whatever issues settled out everything should be fine again.
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WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Well, I waited a few days and then sent her a very short, simple e-mail. I just told her I just wanted to say Hi and that I hope things get better for her. That was all I said in the e-mail. I have not heard anything back from her so I guess I'll just give it time and see if she comes around or not. It happens so often in my life that I think someone is a friend and then all of a sudden they want nothing to do with me. I hate not knowing what I did wrong. But in this case I don't think as Aspie would have a problem coming out and saying whatever it is I said or did wrong. Sometimes I wrack my brains trying to think of what I did wrong. I know I didn't do anything deliberately mean or cruel. I didn't steal from them, I didn't get involved with someone else's husband or boyfriend, I didn't hit them or physically harm them in anyway. I don't borrow money from people. I don't mooch off of people. I mean, I don't mooch financially. So I guess it will always be a mystery as to why people are my friends and then all of a sudden they want nothing to do with me. Does anyone else have this happen to them as well?
As,
people are a very funny animal anway. It isn't that this women is on the spectrum or not, it's that she's human. And human nature can be very cruel. From the things you told me about her, she is a whiner, and
sounds like someone who likes to complain constantly. Maybe there is a good reason as to why that door is closed as she has a lot of problems. Infact, I have had people like me one minute and hate me the next. For example, it happened to me at that church that I used to attend where I thought these people were real. In addition, I had a guy in highschool who liked me one minute and dumped the next for some other girl. Moreover, he still acts like that and has let many of the people he calls, "friends." What about the women who acted like she liked me and even gave me candy at christmas and then decided that she didn't like me because I ruined both of her birthday get togethers? AS, people are going to be that way no matter what you do and who you are.
Sorry to hear you're going through this. Asking her if everything was OK in an email was not disrespecting her privacy, or intrusive, or anything. It's something perfectly reasonable from a friend and she could have just replied 'I'll be fine when this blows over, thanks for your concern.'
It's happened to me quite a few times recently, people out of the blue turning against me with varying degrees of viciousness - I've learned that the best thing to do is to mentally cross them off my list of friends (and of acquaintances I like), move on and just forget about them. They're not my conscience, and I don't make a living off their smile. I don't read minds and I don't work miracles, so there's no point in fretting so much over what they were thinking or what I could have done differently; their motives become irrelevant.
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I am the steppenwolf that never learned to dance. (Sedaka)
El hombre es una bestia famélica, envidiosa e insaciable. (Francisco Tario)
I'm male by the way (yes, I know my avatar is misleading).
This happened to me with people so much all my life that I've stopped trying. I've also stopped racking my brain for the reason - nowadays I believe their sudden outbursts against me are just one of the many possible ways a person chooses to end the friendship: if they attack, they figure, I'll be hurt and offended so I won't try to contact them again. Instant riddance.
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So-called white lies are like fake jewelry. Adorn yourself with them if you must, but expect to look cheap to a connoisseur.
Just wait and see. If she gets back to you, then her outburst just meant that she feels confident enough in your friendship to act in a bad mood when she's in a bad mood. I wouldn't let her continue thinking she can treat me like crap when she's in a bad mood, though.
Third possiblity: she's angry at you for something you did and she's one of those people who don't like to talk about it, so they expect you to guess. Aarrgh, these people are difficult for me.
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So-called white lies are like fake jewelry. Adorn yourself with them if you must, but expect to look cheap to a connoisseur.
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