I feel that you don't need to hug or agree to be supportive. As long as you produce something of some value. It can be a simple "That blows, but I don't know what to do about it"... because sometimes it just IS like that. OR you can reply by comparing to a situation you been in. If the OP feels it is really similar, they might feel helped, if they feel not, they can choose to just let it pass. We cannot decide in what way the person replying want to help or see us or maybe think they have The Answer. Even if we have to cherrypick what we feel are good responses, the MAIN thing is that the replies are not abusive or insulting.

Sadly I've seen some of the latter lately, I feel THAT is the real issue here.

People here have such different needs. Some need a hug, some need a joke, some need to go through things step by step. I doubt treating a person with ASPD the same as someone with PTSD will actually work. Some of us do our BEST... but we're just what we are, we can't know someone's real needs unless we know them well. We can just try.