How do you deal with the friend who always complains?

We all must have had such a constantly complaining pessimist in our group of friends at some point, or maybe she's still there. With this friend, there is always something going on, which makes her unable to do anything but whine and especially talk a lot about herself and her own problems. And don't count on her asking you anything, because you are only there to listen to her and give advice. By the way, she does nothing with this advice, because she doesn't really listen to what you say. It is obviously quite difficult to maintain a friendship with this kind of people, as they suck all the energy out of your body and hardly bring you any joy. After a dinner or coffee, you are completely exhausted. The desire to deal with such complainers decreases day by day, but the sad thing is that they still like to see you, because you are their great support and refuge.

But how do you approach such a complaining friend? Of course, you would prefer to be surrounded by people who make you happy, give you a positive feeling, and offer a mutually listening ear. On the other hand, you also don't want to drop your friend like a hot potato, after all, there was a reason you became friends in the first place. If I ever become so bitter and sour, I hope my friends will address me on this. Avoiding is a temporary solution, but ultimately not the solution. So what can you do?.

To begin with, you must keep trying to empathize with the other person, no matter how difficult that may be. You also have bad days or experience something that makes you feel down for a while. Maybe there is something going on with her that you are not aware of, and this is precisely the reason for her behavior. So try to find out if there is more behind that superficial complaining; hopefully, you can really mean something to her.

If you don't have the impression that something serious is going on, try to downplay her 'problems'. Maybe you are so used to the complaining that you do nothing but nod and say automatic things like: 'Wow, that's unfortunate for you.' Instead, put her misery into perspective and don't go along with it. Make it clear that you find her complaining nonsensical and that there are much worse things to worry about.

Is all this still not helping at all? Then there is nothing else to do but hold up a mirror to her. Honestly point out that her complaining behavior negatively affects your mood. She probably isn't even aware that she has such an impact on her friends because she is simply too busy with herself. An eye-opener is something she could definitely use. Give her the chance to become a nicer person; at least it's worth a try.

Have you pulled out all the stops, but she absolutely refuses to accept anything from you and the complaining stubbornly continues? Then you have every right in the world to end the friendship. Friends come and go, so when you only have negative feelings about your friendship, just make sure to get away.

2 girls walking down a staircase in Paris.