similarity..
When you go through a situation, whether good or bad, and later learn that others have gone through the same experiences as you, does it make you feel better? And why?
@Helenaicy
That's such a thought provoking question!
I won't say "better", because there's no concrete reason to compare experiences and emotions, since it's all individual-specific however it does make me feel in awe of the human experience all of us share~ such a gentle yet powerful reminder that someone else has been in your shoes before and has made it out stronger and that if they could, you can too! A profound sense of shared humanity and connection.
When it's about something good though, I feel elated to see others happy and experiencing the good in life! I think everyone deserves it!
How about you?
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Thank you for sharing, your response is very close to my point of view, I am convinced that no matter how we all go through the same situations, each person's reception of the situation and their feelings differ to varying degrees.
Well.. I don't know why I thought of this question but it suddenly came to my mind and I found myself wondering if knowing that there are those who were in your shoes before makes a person endure the difficulty of the experience and feel a little comfort or not..
Thanks again, and stay safe.
@Helenaicy it does give me a sense of "relief" in knowing that something is a shared human experience. Sometimes it can made it comical depending on the situation. It also makes me want to reach out more to share and let others share because none of us are alone; we just need to connect.
Not really, to be honest. I do appreciate it when people tell me they've been through similar things, because it helps with the empathy component. However, it doesn't make me feel any better about the situation. It just might mean I know another person who went through *** as I did, and it encourages me to take more action about the specific thing.
I.e. hearing people struggling with anxiety and long wait lists for psychiatrists might mean I'll suggest apps for anxiety relief. Unfortunately, the one I could actually tolerate was discontinued last month, and it was a dang good one too.
Also sorry for cussing, I didn't think the underworld word would get censored.
No, it doesn't make me feel better of it's a bad situation. I'm really sorry if they go through the things I've gone through. If it's good, I'm glad we share similar experiences
@Helenaicy The question you posed was very general, and I can not say that I know how everyone feels about everything. Since my expertise is in survivors of trauma, I can say that when people have gone through a difficult time, especially if it happens in privacy or even secrecy, there is a certain sense of being different, maybe even abnormal. Sometimes, because the experience has exceeded their window of tolerance, or their mental capacity to comprehend what happened, they begin to tell themselves certain things to make sense of the situation. A very common result is that they believe it is their fault, something they did wrong must have caused it. This is one of the restorative and healing powers of support groups, when people begin to realize that this happens to others, you are not the only one it ever happened to, it normalizes the event. That can help people who have experienced adverse events heal from the sense of blaming themselves. This is only one aspect of the dynamic you described, but it is the only one I can explain.