However, you should also make it clear that you don't really care. This method only works on long-term problems that have been going on for a long time and really are very petty.


Depending on how hard your two friends are pulling on you, you may want to separate yourself from them personally or from the problem, rather than trying to help them fix it. It's best to let things that last for so long come to their own completion than trying to help fix it, because things like this are only able to be solved by the two competing parties. This particular one is about separating yourself from the other people. This is emotionally very difficult, but it may decrease a lot of the stress in your life.
 If it is stressful for you, tell them so! Make sure they know exactly what they are doing to you. It's very hard to deal with stuff like this if you're in the middle, and sometimes, if it's been spread out like this, it's harder than even being one of the people causing the problem.


Sometimes, the guilt factor alone can speed them to fix it themselves, in which case your friends are good people and you should hang on to them, rather than continuing on. This step takes a while to work, so make sure you tell them both and give them time to work it out or not before continuing.
 If the warning step failed, it's time to start separating. The first thing to do is start getting close with some other people. Make new friends, in or out of school. Find people with similar interests to you and people who you feel comfortable being around; choosing friends is hard sometimes but these are a few good tips.


Make sure you're not just getting close to spite your other friends. They should be people who you actually enjoy being around or your friendship will feel forced and fake, and you will end up alone and sad after they realize you were using them.
 If you want, you can tell them that you don't want to be around them because of how stressful and bad their fight makes you feel and that you need to get away from it. This is called "guilting" and if your friends truly care about you, they will try to end the fight.


If they are trying, stop getting away from them and give them time to work it out. Support them as they try, because sometimes if you have been in a fight with someone for years it's actually more comfortable to be in that fight than to end it. This sounds crazy, but status quo is a very easy place to be mentally and it will take your friends some getting used to if they finally start to ease the tensions between them.
 If they still don't try to stop you from leaving, you should realize that they care more about hating someone than they do about keeping a friend who actually cares about them. You deserve better, so you should finally stop talking as much with them.


Don't totally cut off communications, but you should definitely not hang out with them any more. Be civil, as that is very important, but don't go out of your way to say hi or anything. Remember. They are not your friend at this point but someone who doesn't care enough about you to try to keep you at least a little happy. (Realize that this step comes like three months after step 3, just to put that into perspective. That's a very long time.)
Make it clear that you don't want to take sides.
Tell them that unless they solve the problem, you can't deal with their enmity any more and you need to get away from it.
Create a distance as needed.
Start to spend time that you would spend with your fighting friends with your new friends.
Be firm if you really need to.
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