In the Media – What to do when friends become needy

Published: September 10, 2013 | Last Updated: April 2, 2016 By | Reply Continue Reading

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U.S. News and World Report

September 3, 2013

by Rachel Pomerance

“If you’ve ever felt the tug of a needy friendship, you may have found yourself stewing as you endured her umpteenth lament over the one who got away, becoming “crazy busy” every time she asks you to dinner and increasingly relegating her ring to voice mail.

You only have so much to give and so long to listen, you tell your spouse, mom and anyone else who’ll give you a turn to talk – at least you divvy up the venting, you tell yourself, so you don’t pay the pain forward.

What’s wrong with giving? Nothing. It’s humanity at its best. And the act alone makes us feel fantastic. Ever heard of the “giver’s high?”…

“All relationships need to be reciprocal to work, whether it’s a marriage or a friendship,” says Irene S. Levine, a professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center and creator of TheFriendshipBlog.com. “One person can’t always be on the giving side and the other person always on the taking side.”..

Click here to read the entire article on navigating a needy friendship.

Category: IN THE MEDIA

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