I agree with the other lovely posters, there has to be a reason (especially if it is a solid friendship). In my own experience, I ghosted pretty much everyone who was on my contact list by changing my number. I explained to a few people that I needed some time for myself. I was letting go of a life I felt I had outgrown. I had even stopped socializing the way I used to. I felt separated from that life long before I chose to switch my number.

It was a very personal self-discovery journey and I could not (nor did I want to) take any of my friends with. It was about me. And frankly, there is nothing narcissistic about choosing yourself especially when you feel you have become unrecognizable to yourself. I had to pull myself out and I couldn’t take the people who I had met and built that life with, along.

Now I’m finally at a place where I love who I am becoming. After a few months I reached out to a few friends who I identified as still being good for my new lifestyle. They were so pleased to hear from me and it felt like we never separated. I felt respected by them. They didn’t take my silence personally as if it was a malicious attack. They respected my need for space. However, most of the people and the places I used to hang out at, I have no interest going back.

So honestly I think there are some times where it is not done to hurt the other person. However in life we need to learn that our friends are not our purse, that we can just carry around whenever or wherever. That friend has their own needs. Their own demons to fight. Sometimes they do not feel comfortable fighting them with you in their space. Not to say you are a bad friend or unsupportive. It’s just such a personal, private experience that it even feels wrong to have to explain why I need to be alone and not have to feel guilty of ghosting/abandoning someone.