How to Deal With Having a Crush on Your Friend’s Sister

Step 1

1

Take your time. Don’t rush into pursuing your feelings. Remember, crushes don’t last forever. You may feel intensely for just a few weeks about this person before your feelings begin to mellow out.

If you find you still have feelings for your friend’s sister after a few months, then you may wish to pursue it. In the meantime, you may wish to keep your distance and figure out how you feel.

Getting over a crush can almost feel like getting over an addiction. Crushes cause the brain to produce dopamine — the same chemical that drives a drug addict’s next high. So if it feels difficult to step back, that’s because it is!

Step 2

2

Take a break. Force yourself to stay away from your friend’s sister for a week or so and see if you feel any differently about her. You might just be attracted to her because you are seeing her a lot. Stop visiting their house and spend time with your friend elsewhere.

Sometimes people develop crushes on others just because they are around those people frequently. This is called the exposure effect (or the familiarity principle): the more you are around or exposed to something/someone, the more you will like it.

If you are spending a lot of time at your friend’s house and their sister is always hanging around, for example, you may start to have feelings for her.

Taking a break from seeing the sister will help you to discern if your feelings are genuine.

Have your friend come over to your house instead, talk to them on the phone, or hang out somewhere else.