A recent study in the US showed 15 per cent of men said they didn’t have any close friends, compared to three per cent in 1990. Those reporting 10 or more close friends also declined from 33 per cent to 13 per cent. I read these stats with some interest as I too seem to be in the midst of a friendship recession. A cull. Shedding friendships like my cat sheds its fur every season.

In my 40s, my friendship group was relatively stable – in fact, I made new friends as I became a mum, going to baby groups and clinging to other mothers as if they knew some secret recipe to good parenting that I hadn’t discovered. Then the dust settled, the babies got bigger, and those friendships (the majority) faded as the urgency of early motherhood dissipated.

I’m finding there is a natural “culling” of f

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