I, too, have a tendancy of attracting "damaged" people, and I do believe that much of it has to do with empathy. We want to help them and in turn end up hurting ourselves. In most cases, I "won" and stuck around until I was abandoned, but in two cases I actually managed to pull away on my own because the amount they drained out of me was hazardous to me and my emotions hadn't yet gotten so wrapped up on the situation that I couldn't act. Yes, everyone has their own baggage, but some people's bags are much heavier than others, and mine are heavy enough without my having to help someone else too much.