Know where you stop and your best friend starts. Loving someone doesn’t mean absorbing every mood they have.

Closeness blurs the edges, and after a while their bad week becomes your bad week without anyone deciding it should. Caring about somebody does not require running their weather in your own body. The blur also makes you less useful to them, since a person who has gone under alongside them cannot reach down.

When a friend is struggling, notice the moment their mood becomes yours. You can stay warm and still be a separate person. Ask what they actually need, which is usually company rather than a matching state.