• Misunderstanding-This is perhaps the most common problem in relationships. Sometimes your friends may misinterpret what you do or say or it is you who misinterpret them. Depending on the maturity of the people involved, such misunderstandings can be solved quickly or it could open the way to more serious problems. The bottom line is that misunderstanding is caused either by lack of quality or quantity in communication. You may spend a lot of time communicating with your friends (for example, with your roommate), but if the quality of the communication is low then there is a very good chance that misunderstanding will happen. Misunderstanding also includes when a problem happens because you and your friend do not communicate often enough. If both parties are busy, they may not have the chance to communicate what they need or want which may then eventually lead to misunderstanding.
• Different expectations-Everyone has different expectations within a relationship. These expectations are based a lot on background (the way you were brought up) personality and past experience (for example: if you have been hurt a lot in the past in friendships you may be more guarded). These expectations of what a friendship really entails can dramatically affect the quality of communication within a friendship. In fact failure to understand and acknowledge different expectation within a friendship can ultimately end the relationship.
• Selfishness-Another common problem in friendships is selfishness. Perhaps both parties understand what the other party needs, but one or both of them are not willing to give the other what that is. Friends may feel justified in not extending themselves (she brought this on herself etc.) and not take the action needed in repairing the friendship. In this case, the problem is then a lack of action instead of lack of understanding. For example, it takes time to build relationships but we may be too busy to provide time for those in our lives. Being to busy could be a form of selfishness. In addition just wanting to be understood without trying to understand is also a form of selfishness.
• Anger-Every relationship ultimately faces a time when one or both participants are angry at each other. Failure to acknowledge the anger and deal with it is another common reason for communication problems within a friendship.

Along with communication problems the above listed reasons can cause many other problems within a friendship. Being judgmental, for example, is often caused by selfishness. We may want others to meet our expectations and we blame them when they do not. In addition many times these problems are compounded when anger is caused my misunderstanding or selfishness leads to different expectations.

The bottom line is however that any communication problems in a friendship can be worked out-by communicating. Whether by letter, phone call or sitting down face to face it is important to let your friend know that you are willing to work on the communication issues in your friendship. Letting your friend know that he or she is to important to you to let your friendship simply die can go a long way toward reopening the lines of communication.