Are you a woke friend?

 Let's imagine a scenario where a really good friend of yours is sharing how life has been quite tough lately, they have shared about their situation and they think that they are suffering from anxiety or depression.

What would be your reply to that ?

1. Oh, I’m so sorry, what can I do for you?

2. Uh huh, but you know I have been through worse you will be fine.

3. There's no such thing as anxiety or depression. Get over yourself

4. Listen to them and then ignore them

A lot of you are gonna say it's option A. And to some extent it really is, but also it's not. It's difficult to explain.

In this regard, it really comes down to you whether you are able to understand what they are going through, what their emotions are like and what they might be feeling like during this tough phase. Or you are one of those friends that just gets weird when someone starts crying in front of you.

Now if you get weird or not, let me tell you why it's a bit frustrating if you are choosing option A as your answer if I’m at the receiving end.

If I’m choosing to share my problem with you I’m kinda hoping you have a solution to it already that's why I’m sharing it with you in the first place or I might just be looking for a good listener, if I knew what you can do for me don't you think I would start with that ?

What I’m kinda hoping from you is that you might understand what I’m going through, my mental energy and space,and that together you can help me build a plan to deal with this situation effectively.

What I’m hoping from you is to understand not to relate.

So my question is can you and will you be able to understand your friend if something like this were to happen ?

Give it a thought