Thread: How do you act to friends with an illness?

it depends on the person and the case. Some people are able to face it stronger than others. Personally I think people say what they think they would do....but when it comes to it, you just really don't knwo what your reaction is.

personnally, being as realistic as i can be....i think i would act differently in the beginning....but learn about the illness more in depth, and learn to see what they need and what they don't need. It's difficult, some people want to act as if nothings wrong....but others don't. I would respect my friend and go with the flow.

I hate it when people overreact to it.....i mean....if YOU overreact, how do you think they would feel? They don't NEED more pressure from you....they have enough anxiety on their own and from their own family. I'd give them the space they wanted....but still be around just in case. Then go with the flow =)

One thing i would never do is abandon them.

Btw, with your list of illnesses, SARS is kinda different.....it's easily passed on so....for health reasons you would HAVE to be protected. I don't know it's tough, but I think i would learn to adapt quickly.

I have a friend with diabetes. It's no different now than it was before she had it. Except now we make jokes (she's pretty comfortable with her situation). This is partly because I'm gullible and freaked out when she said if she had any sugar, she'd go into a diabetic seizure... which later, she assured me doesn't happen.

To tell you the truth I wouldn't treat them different than any of my others friends because when it comes down to it. They aren't so different as we think. So they might not be able to do as much things as we can or they might move at a slower pace but that doesn't give me a really good reason to treat them different. You just really have to remember when it comes down to it that we are all different in some shape or form but that doesn't give us the right to treat someone else as if they weren't our equal because they are. Now, I know I may sound like some adult who gives you a speech that lasts for hours but this how I feel. I had a friend who had an "illness" you might want to call it. His arm was, I don't know how to describe it, imagine your arm being half the length it is now. That is how big his arm was but he still did all the same things as us. None of us really ever considered. Most of us were like "What happened to your arm?" and then totally forgot about it. Anyways, that is how I feel on the matter.

-Angel

depends on the diease... as long as it wasn't contagious i'd still hang around them... otherwise hello mister phone... ahh technology saves us from life threatening disease's once again.

Originally Posted by The King of Fashion

If you had a friend with an illness like AIDS, diabetes, SARS, HIV, or any other stuff like that, would you treat them differently or treat them like any other friend you have? If you would treat them differently, how so? If not, why?

Yes, you treat them differently if you are close enough to them.

I live in Southern Utah, so know alot of people who come down with, and usually die from, cancer.
Right now my cousin that I have been close to is in Chemo Therapy. I have another friend who finished her Chemo just a few years ago and has to take thyroid medicine daily or she will die.

If it's a friend but you're not specially close there is a tendancy to act like nothing is happening, but if you're really close.... you act differently. They could/will die. You value your time you have with them more then ever. You make more time for them because it may be the last you have. It affects you deeply. That is why I am firmly against euthenasia. I would not give up the final moments I have had with those I love for anyone's "convienence".

I would try my best not to treat them differently, but if I know they're going to die (like right away) then I would be a little different because I'm bracing myself for the lost.

I know many people with AIDS and HIV and I don't treat them any different than I would a normal person, only thing is I don't go around them when I have a cold or something along those lines.

They need you most then. Visit them as often as you can, god forbid that they die. Its better tp die with closure that way. They need a friend most then 2.