The pandemic has come to cancel so many things over the last several months and one expert says it’s also time to reevaluate friendships.
Relationship expert Jessica O’Reilly recently joined the hosts of Global News’ The Morning Show to answer some of the most common questions around keeping (or ending) friendships during the coronavirus pandemic.
One question, in particular, O’Reilly says, is when friends choose not to comply with COVID-19 rules.
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If a friend isn’t following social distancing rules or is seeing too many people as part of their bubbles, she says communication with this friend is key.
“I think it’s definitely worth speaking up and setting your own boundaries,” O’Reilly said.
“But you don’t necessarily have to end the whole friendship,” she added. Instead, she advises changing the habitual interaction with your friend by meeting online or outdoors.
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Kate Mulligan, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, previously told Global News it’s important to remind friends that even if they feel healthy, they must respect social and physical distancing rules to protect vulnerable citizens like seniors, health-care workers and those with weakened immune systems.
To put someone in the spotlight or to use anger as a form of expression toward friends going out isn’t an efficient way to communicate with them, she said.
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Mulligan also recommended that individuals should try to share information from reliable sources like government sites and news organizations.
To hear answers to even more questions and concerns about friendships in the pandemic, watch the full video with O’Reilly above.