ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Feeling detached from your friends? Here's how to change that post-pandemic

Share
TORONTO -

After more than 1.5 years of isolation, some people are starting to reconnect with friends they haven’t seen in a long time.

That pandemic pause may have put friendships under strain, but there are healthy ways to press reset, Montreal-based clinical psychologist Anna Maria Tosco told CTV’s Your Morning on Wednesday.

“A lot of us feel quite distant from our friends and a little bit detached,†said Tosco, a psychologist with the Montreal Center for Anxiety and Depression. “COVID has been so hard, but in truth it’s also provided us with a moment for reflection.

“If you’re ready for re-entry into the social world right now, if you’re good to go out and see friends, please do so,†she said. “Don’t feel guilty about minimal contact or lack of contact during COVID.â€

And if you don’t want to see friends, that’s OK too, she said, just don’t ghost them. It’s better to decline invitations, or limit your time with those people.

Newsletter sign-up: Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox

Good friendships are based on reciprocity, conflict resolution and flexibility, she said.

“A lot of us like the status quo, but people change,†Tosco said. “People move, people change jobs, people get remarried. So we want someone who can walk beside us during these times and not hold us back, or feel angry, or bitter that things are changing.â€

And if you have friends who really resonate with you, those are the ones you want to keep close, Tosco said.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

Stay Connected