Handling a Sensitive Friend

A touchy friend can be a little difficult to manage; yet it might be easy to carry along with a very sensitive friend if you don’t try to ‘handle’ them, just accept them. Your understanding of the friend and awareness of their characteristics, personality and nature is of importance.

These qualities are essential for any relationship but it becomes even more important when the friend has a touchy nature. The only way to form a lasting, trusting and comfortable relationship with a person with this characteristic is to be sensitive (to them) yourself.

You will need to be more proactive, more humane, more concerned than you would normally be. Many of the small things that we do not pay attention to, the many things that we take for granted will now have to be paid attention to. You will have to offer yourself more openly, without any ego.

Sometimes you may feel that the person is not reciprocating to you properly, and that you are the one who is pushing for things. Do not feel this way. A sensitive person may have a lot of inhibitions, may not speak their mind freely, feel embarrassed, fear being judged poorly and therefore may not be able to freely participate in the relationship. So you need to go an extra mile to make things easier and comfortable for them.

Do not get tensed about their moody behaviour. Take it easy and light heartedly. Validation and acknowledgement is important for sensitive individuals. They may find it very uncomfortable and disturbing to deal with rejection. Therefore saying that its perfectly all right the way they are, indicating that you are fully accepting of their characteristics and traits, telling them that its natural and there is nothing wrong with their nature will help them to open up to you.

Take it easy with them. Be friendly. Never be judgmental about them, or be sarcastic or criticize them. Do not challenge them or test them. They may withdraw into their shell that may be difficult to break.

A sensitive person may have a formal and serious manner, but you can be casual, friendly and easy going. This will ease them.