This person feels distanced from their friends.

Hi,

I hope your mental health is going to get better and better now and hopefully, Covid-19 is also going to be a thing of the past.

It does not feel good when you see your friends hanging out without you, because it means that they make plans without including you in it. But it might be that your other friends are trying to maintain their distance to respect you. previously, you haven't been responding to your friends' messages. But it might also be that they have given up on trying to ask you out.

And no, I am not blaming you at all. When you're in a bad mental state, you just really want to be alone and I understand that; I've been there before. I had hurt my family a lot back when I was not okay. I wasn't myself most of the time but I know that it did not excuse my behavior towards them at all. They were patient with me but they also have feelings.

If you think it from their point of view, you started ignoring their texts and invites to go out—they might be hurt by this. Even if it is not something you did purposefully, their feelings might still be hurt, especially if they didn't know why you started ignoring them.

So I think it would be best if you reach out to them and also to your best friend with an apology and an explanation of your previous state. It is best for them to really know what had happened with you and you hadn't done everything because of malice; instead you just had to step back to take care of yourself.

I hope this helps.

Love,

The Advice Column Team

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