HOW TO HELP A FRIEND….

This article presents suggestions on how to help friends at times when they have problems or in crises. Seek out your friend's company as often as you can, suggesting specific times to get together. Keep asking, even if she says no the first time. Psychologist Alice Chang, coauthor of Survivor's Guide to Breast Cancer, says that if a friend is ill but mobile, you should take her out to eat every week or two, because sick people are often isolated. If she's housebound, drop off some food and bring videos and books on tape, because certain treatments impair vision.