I've "lost" friends too. Not completely, per se, but we've sort of lost contact.. drifted apart. I don't make friends easily so I hung on to some who could be very judgmental at times. The most recent job I did have wasn't quite good enough for the white collar crowd I was hanging with. This one friend made some disparaging remarks about it in front of new acquaintances (female) of ours. He did this twice while I was trying to explain what my job entailed. Excuse me, but I'll be the one to explain my work. But he felt the need to chime in. Then I lost that job and not a peep of help from him. Then again, I never really asked him for help. That's another problem of mine... feeling such shame from being unemployed or underemployed that I don't act proactively to better my situation. I am a person who values authenticity. I just can't bring myself to use or accept help from other people to get ahead unless I know them really well and I feel safe in doing so. But that is what much of the job search comes down to... who you know or pretend to know. Yes, I too, have taken an indeterminate leave of absence from the work culture. But it is a lonely place to be. The longer it goes on, the darker it gets.