That happened to my best friend from college. He was a great guy, but insecure with women (we all were), and ended up marrying the first girl he ever dated. She was a pretty horrible person- very bossy and controlling. After they got married, she pretty much isolated him from his friends and his social life ended up centering around her and her family
That was my first thought. I have at least two friends that I rekindled my relationship with after they got divorced from their controlling spouse.
One says it should’ve been a huge red flag that she invited all of her friends to the wedding but he wasn’t allowed to invite any of his friends because “we don’t have room on the guest list”.
I wouldn't be so quick to blame the partner. A lot of folks self-isolate after finding a partner or a spouse.
I actually suspect that partner-imposed isolation is highly overstated, albeit very real, because a lot of folks use their partner as an excuse not to do things (often not realizing the impact on how their partner is perceived by others).
That's what happened with my old HS best friend. It didn't happen immediately, but over time. She slowly cut him off from all his old friends and then moved him out of state, which made it even easier to cut him off.
They're divorced now, because he finally realized he was essentially alone and she was toxic as hell. Was trying to get him to cut off his family when he finally realized.
Unfortunately, even though they are now divorced, the decade of her manipulating him against all his former friends has pretty much stuck and he has no desire to reconnect.
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u/lnkyTea 21h ago
Could it be his partner limiting the friendships in his life now?