It's nice to know I'm not alone in this. My sister often will only contact me when she has something to complain about (which is a lot)...and she's usually wanting sympathy for things she's inflicted upon herself out of general stupidity or wanting to be the victim in a situation where she shouldn't be. It absolutely infuriates me. I don't talk about my problems much with friends and family, but if for some reason I do (usually just to explain myself or my behavior) she tries to 'one up' me to try to show me how 'horrible' her life is. She doesn't know a 10th of what I've dealt with over he years both physically and mentally...most people don't actually.

I know everyone fights battles we know nothing about, but a lot times the things people complain to me about just seem so trivial to me and I feel like they blow hints out of proportion. I hate that it makes me so irritated and angry.

But I'm honest with people and tell them straight up I'm not good at sympathy. I even do it with my husband. He's accepted that I'm not good at it, I'm trying to be more sympathetic when he needs me to be, but it's really really hard for me.