I'm 100% convinced that there's nothing wrong with not relating so something, but also that being fake isn't okay "as long as they don't know". Maybe it's different priorities, dunno. To me honest, consensual, real contacts with humans matter, and if I can't have that, I'd like to be out NOW, not just have a plane just in case in some vague future just in case. We can't be honest about everything because some stuff could be a burden or get people into trouble. But not wanting to say "sorry, I can't help with your need to vent right now and I have no clue when I could have such capacity", pretending to relate and actually that the person should get a grip on themselves in not being nice. It's not being a bad person either, but it's lack of accountability you'd expect from others. If you believe that those people prefer to be begrudgingly "listened", get some fake recycled therapy bullshit, instead of just setting proper boundaries when you can't take care of their needs, you don't respect them very much or maybe simply are afraid of confrontation and prefer to just feel superior for having "bigger problems you handle all by yourself". It's lack of respect to decide that someone deserves this half-assed recycled therapy stuff and "it's okay to feel superior over them and pretend to relate" rather than set boundaries and keep respecting them and treating them as equal human beings on this miserable planet - because they don't know that the "support" they receive is fake. How do you expect those people to get a grip on themselves and act like adults if you don't believe they could take simple boundaries, and if you believe that it's for their own good to not set boundaries for them for such a minor thing?
thanks for explaining how you feel about the subject it helps me grasp another perspective.
regarding taking accountability for not being able to relate to someone, i do usually let them know that i can not relate and can probably not provide any useful information based of my experiences and i apologize for that.
i ask them if there is any other way i can help or what they wanted from the conversation in the first place and they reply "you can't" or "nothing". what else can i do for someone but listen and give them advice i have taken from others if i cant relate from personal experience?
maybe i am worse at this than i thought. my boyfriend constantly brings up people he misses talking to and i think that shows i am definitely doing something wrong if he doesn't feel heard by me. but he barely shares anything of substance.
i still support the people i care about and hate to see them struggle with anything. i always want to provide a space for them to be able to vent and get it off their chests. i can just never relate to their superficial struggles that could so easily be resolved if they tried just a bit to look at things from a different perspective and i wish they put effort to make their lives a little bit better.
i dont know if you can relate but my friends/bf always feels the need to make mom/dad proud, thats all they ever want. they let a few words they dont hear from their parents ruin their lives and they'll never get the validation they live for. sometimes its time to move on and live for themselves. my parents dont apologize to me or tell me i do anything right. i know i cant or shouldnt compare my experiences to others and everyone struggles to the same extent and their feelings are valid i get that its a huge deal to them but at a certain point you have to move past it to move on in YOUR life and not stay stuck.
maybe i'm being shallow.
its not a feeling of superiority at all, i just feel as though its on a smaller scale and it could be prevented and lead to a healthier life. i get frustrated when healthy people let these things bother them because im scared it might lead to their depression which i know not everyone reacts so strongly to the things they feel but still i worry.
i try to set the boundaries or try to hear them out but it hardly comes up in conversation except once a while and i cant grasp my own emotions when it happens. i think my relationships are probably very immature at this stage and i am definitely not mentally stable enough to care for another person in the way they deserve it. but i do not want to lose these people.
So you basically feel superior to them, and even tho their behavior annoys you, you gain something (improving the way you feel about yourself) from their problems.
i dont gain anything? i dont feel superior i would just hate to see them suffer as badly as i do and wish they could take the precautions to heal small wounds and be sure they wont reopen as i should have done at that stage of my illness.