(Throwaway for obvious reasons).
I (20M), have a friend (also 20M) who I’ve known for a few years. We met in our first year of college, seemed to get along quite well, and became good friends.
Over the last few months, he seems to have grown more distant and irritated at me. When I asked him why, he said it was because I made fun of his height, which is a bit of a sore spot for him (apparently being tall was a big thing his family valued). He claims that he’s told me to stop multiple times (I honestly didn’t think he was being serious), and told me that he’s developed “dysmorphia” (I use quotes because I’m not sure if that was exactly what he used) and intense social anxiety. This is a guy who used to be quite well-spoken and outgoing, so I feel like it’s a bit ridiculous to claim that friendly teasing caused such a psychological breakdown.
I have a feeling that this confrontation might be the end of our friendship. Did I ruin a good thing by making fun of my friend? Any way to recover it?
2 comments
wow dude, you sound like a dick. he asked you to stop many times and you didnt, i dont think you can recover it it if it has has effected him that much.
You should come to terms with the idea that the friendship is over. The best you can do is genuinely apologize.
Constantly bringing notice to something a person cannot change and is already a source of insecurity is not a friendship-building move. When he asked you to stop on multiple occasions, you continued to invalidate his feelings, and now you are here on reddit invalidating his feelings even more. Stop making excuses, take responsibility, and be a better friend to those you have left.