Do people naturally cull their friends as they get older?

According to Anniki Sommerville writing in the iPaper, friendships tend to fade away as people get older.

Counselling psychologist and lecturer in TU Dublin Leslie Schumacher said we shed friends at all stages of life.

“I think we still continue to recruit friends because as we grow older, we start going through different life stages,” she told Newstalk Breakfast.

“Like, when parents have kids, that becomes a unifying factor, and then as they go through life, the kids being in Scouts or in sports, that becomes a unifying factor.

“Then the empty nest syndrome, people start making friends as they move into retirement and they join new activities and start doing different things.”

Group Of Multi-Racial Friends Sitting Around Table Enjoying Meal At Home Making Cheers With Water

Ms Schumacher also said that as we age, we tend to get less tolerant of people.

“I see it where I work in TU Dublin, we’ve had a lot of retirements and what’s really interesting is seeing who I’ve stayed in contact with,” she said.

“People I thought I’d stay in contact with and haven’t, just because their lives are moving into a new sphere.

“I think we start recognising unhelpful behaviour from people and it’s sort of like, ‘I don’t want that in my life anymore.

“’I’m just going to gradually, gradually step away from that person’.”

'With us through thick and thin'

According to Schumacher, those who do still manage to stick with us long term are those that we have the strongest connections with.

“Those are the people who, you know, they’re with us through thick and thin, whether it be illness, bereavement, job losses, whatever it is,” he said.

“Those are the people who we continually go to because they do feed our soul and those are soul friends.”

Ms Schumacher said while some people are still able to maintain big friend groups, “it’s about what suits you.”

Main image: Male Friends Enjoying Meal Outdoors At Home. Image: MBI / Alamy. 4 April 2014