Mental Health Tip of the Week

Respecting the Privacy of Others

Everyone should be entitled to a private life, private thoughts and private feelings and have the right to share those thoughts and feelings with the person of their own choosing. At times, people take it for granted that being close friends to someone means no boundaries between them. Some people’s idea of closeness is revealing one’s secrets totally to a confidant, but there are still some things that one might not want to share with anyone. Most people consciously respect other people’s property yet sometimes fail to respect his/her privacy.

How important is privacy?  Privacy is as important as respecting other people’s opinions. When you respect a person, you allow the person to determine the limit of your involvement in their life. If a friend does not recognize, respect and stop at this border, the other person might begin to feel disgusted with intrusion, causing the friendship to weaken. Every individual values his or her privacy. The right to privacy could refer to your right to be left alone or to your right not to share every aspect of your life. To intrude on this is like stealing from someone or trespassing on the person’s domain.

There are several different ways a person’s right to privacy can be invaded. We should not eavesdrop on people’s private conversations or read their private letters. Neither should we read other people’s text messages, or share private conversations. This in itself is a blatant violation of the friendship and a total disregard for others privacy. If we do so and find out something private about them, we should NEVER discuss it with others.  It is important that we respect another person’s privacy if we want ours to be respected as well. Think about it. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. How would you feel if you discovered that someone was eavesdropping on your private conversations? Failing to respect the privacy of others is not just bad manners, but could cost you so much more than what you bargained for. It could cost you a treasured friendship.