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QwertyGirl
Guest
Wow. Unacceptable.
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0Scarlett_nidiyilii
Guest
I hear what you’re saying, but the OP was asking for a friend (and it sounds like they’re both very young), not for her child, so it didn’t seem relevant here.
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TomH1
Guest
If that is the negative way in which you wish to interpret what I said that is your choice.
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DisorientingSneeze
Guest
Love him and let him know you’re there for him. This may cause a great rift in your friendship. I’ve seen where a person turns on their closest friends. They can start to resent “cisgender” people for all sorts of things. He may say some hurtful things to you, but need you later. There may come a time that you’re the only stable person he is friends with.
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jvickers
Guest
Here’s a question related to the topic (I hope!). What is the Catholic Church’s stance on transgenderism. I cannot find it in writing. We know the stance on homosexual tendencies versus homosexual acts, but there does not seem to be anything on transgenderism. I don’t think the authors and compilers of the CCC anticipated the medical advances and future ability of people to physically switch genders. If this is off topic, someone let me know! I don’t want the post flagged 
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0Scarlett_nidiyilii
Guest
It’s complicated.
Sterilization is forbidden.
Transgenderism is a mental health issue that is extremely rare (I’m taking about the kids who feel like this from early childhood, not the late onset teens or the folks just trying to get attention), andwe really know very little about it (yeah, there’s a study that gets trotted out about transgender brains, but it’s in no way the “smoking gun” evidence the activists would have you believe).
You may want to check out the National Catholic Bioethics Center for more information
Tis_Bearself
Patron
We don’t “pretend”. Some people don’t want to just disappear on a friend who needs help. This is not a Catholic teaching, it’s a matter of individual judgment. Other people wouldn’t hesitate to disappear, because they don’t feel capable of being friends with a person who is impeded by a mental illness from being a good friend in return and might even be harmful to one’s family or oneself. Priests would generally advise you that if a friendship is endangering your physical self, your soul or your own emotional well-being, distance yourself from the person.
On the one hand, the vast majority of people I know have had some treatment for depression, anxiety, Aspergers or something else at some point in their life, so almost everyone these days has “mental illness”. If you limit your friends to those who have never been to a counselor or taken a prescription for mental health, then you won’t have many people in your life.
On the other hand, I have found that continued interaction with somebody who has a more severe mental illness such as bipolarity, addiction, or severe depression usually does not lead to anything positive in my life. If you aren’t an immediate family member of the person or responsible for their care, and the person does not improve with treatment, then often one is better off seeking out other friends because otherwise you get put in a role of caregiver, or worse yet punching bag, for somebody who due to their illness is not really capable of being a good friend back.
It’s up to each individual person where they draw the line with a particular friend. I know I tried earnestly to keep friendships going with several friends of mine who had serious mental illnesses (beyond just some depression or anxiety) but over time they became unsupportive and frankly, abusive of me, so I had to cut them off and find some healthier friendships.
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jvickers
Guest
Thanks for the reply, @0Scarlett_nidiyilii. The sterilization portion is pretty clear.
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jvickers
Guest
These are unfortunate statements. It’s sad your friends became abusive to you. Perhaps they were not properly medicated (the bipolar and severely depressed individuals). I’m sorry for both you in having to lose friends and for your friends who were unable to effectively manage their disorders. They need support, but when they become abusive and negatively impact your life, you sometimes have to distance yourself from them. I pray for the mentally ill every night…
Tis_Bearself
Patron
In all the cases, I’d been friends with the person for quite a few years, and I think it became a case of “familiarity breeds contempt”. Basically they thought they could act their worst around me because I was a friend of long standing, so it was okay for them to blow up at me over small things, accuse me of stuff I didn’t do, make threats, etc. when they would not act that way with people they didn’t know as well. After a warning or two in each case I just said “enough”. I need friends who can be reasonably supportive of me and that simply wasn’t happening with these people any more. One can’t give and give and give and not get back, in a friendship. It’s a friendship, not a self-sacrifice.
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