If you’re explaining your friend’s behavior to everyone, check if you’re trying to convince them or you.

Defending somebody repeatedly to other people is sometimes loyalty and sometimes rehearsal. If you keep making the case, you might be managing what others think, or you might be working on a doubt of your own that you have not looked at directly. The two feel almost identical from the inside, which is why it needs asking.

Notice who the explanation is really aimed at next time it starts. If it is you, try saying the doubt out loud to one person who will not repeat it. Naming it is not abandoning your friend.