Receiving Care
Living with a Serious Illness and Its Toll on Your Friendships
Maya Devincenzi Dil
Living with a serious illness changes your friendships. The people around you who haven’t been in your shoes (so, more or less everyone) may find it hard to know what you need. And some may end up doing the exact opposite, unintentionally, of course.
The friends who mean well when they give you space and don’t text for a while. The co-workers who walk on eggshells around you. The brunch buddies who stop inviting you to, well, brunch. Wouldn’t it be great if they all of a sudden knew how to behave around you, and could offer their support, fun distractions, and shoulders to cry on?
Well, it’s not easy to help when you have no idea how. We know it’s tough to keep repeating the same conversations, so to save you the hassle (and to save some of your friends from missing the mark) we’ve written a walkthrough on the ins and outs of illness etiquette. Know anyone who could really use the info?
