Writer's Block: Don't tease me bro!

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Oh definitely. I've had friendships in which a large part of our interaction seemed to be some form of playful teasing, but the moment it became unbalanced (they teased me more than I teased them, etc) or one of us just happened to be particular stressed, vulnerable, or sensitive that day it became more like bullying than a joke. I once specifically asked a friend to tone it down after some incidents that had me questioning our friendship; they thought teasing me like normal would return our friendship to its former state, but what I really needed was assurance that they valued me as something more than a verbal punching bag. Being comfortable enough to give and receive teasing remarks can be a sign of a healthy relationship, but it can't create a healthy relationship-- and if a relationship is struggling it does way more harm than good.

I don't tend to engage in much teasing unless I know someone really well, and even then I tend to be so obviously sarcastic and far-fetched that it's obvious I'm kidding. I tend to avoid stinging too close to sensitive subjects. The only time I can think of in which I've been specifically told to tone it down was by my brother. He even admitted that normally my teasing wouldn't have been so bad, but he was in middle school at the time and would spend all day being teased (both playfully and maliciously) by his peers that he just couldn't handle it to come home and get it from his family, too.

Writer's Block: Don't tease me bro!

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Oh definitely. I've had friendships in which a large part of our interaction seemed to be some form of playful teasing, but the moment it became unbalanced (they teased me more than I teased them, etc) or one of us just happened to be particular stressed, vulnerable, or sensitive that day it became more like bullying than a joke. I once specifically asked a friend to tone it down after some incidents that had me questioning our friendship; they thought teasing me like normal would return our friendship to its former state, but what I really needed was assurance that they valued me as something more than a verbal punching bag. Being comfortable enough to give and receive teasing remarks can be a sign of a healthy relationship, but it can't create a healthy relationship-- and if a relationship is struggling it does way more harm than good.

I don't tend to engage in much teasing unless I know someone really well, and even then I tend to be so obviously sarcastic and far-fetched that it's obvious I'm kidding. I tend to avoid stinging too close to sensitive subjects. The only time I can think of in which I've been specifically told to tone it down was by my brother. He even admitted that normally my teasing wouldn't have been so bad, but he was in middle school at the time and would spend all day being teased (both playfully and maliciously) by his peers that he just couldn't handle it to come home and get it from his family, too.