Walking away from a group that’s dragging you down is lonely at first. The freedom shows up later.

Leaving costs you straight away and pays you later, which is the wrong order for how it feels. The first weeks are quiet: no chat lighting up, no plans made on your behalf, evenings you have to fill yourself. That silence is not evidence you were wrong, it is the loss arriving before the gain.

Give the decision a fixed stretch, a month say, before you judge it. Fill one of the empty evenings with something you actually chose. Expect the freedom to turn up quietly rather than announce itself.