Friend's support

One concept that I found really interesting this week is on page 257, talking about friend’s support. In our lives, we always expected friends to support us.  There are many different ways to show support. One of the common types to show support is the relationship message, saying something like “I care about you.” We can also support our friends by listening to their problems. The more mindfully we listen, the more support we provide. After we listened, we should respond wisely. Another way we support friends by showing that they are not alone, we can say “I’ve felt that way, too” or “I’ve had the same problem,” by saying that, we signal that we understand their feelings. Availability is also another important form of support. Even if there are nothing that we can help, but it is also important for us to be with friends so that they have company in their sadness. In this section, I am very surprised that women and men tend to differ in how they support friends. Women tend to provide more personal communication than men do. They are more likely to talk about feelings, dimensions of emotional issues, and fears that accompany distress. In other words, instead of engaging in direct and sustained emotional talk, men tend to communicate support more instrumentally.