This is a form of cross-talk, something you learn not to do in 12-step meetings. You share what happened to you and how it affected you and ask for strength and hope from others, then some bozo says, "Well, that's nothing--listen to what happened to me on that same topic/experience/score." Totally makes you feel un-listened to and like not sharing again. Cross-talk happens more than it should in places where it shouldn't, and it happens so much in families we get used to it. Some of us never realize there is a different way to communicate, and so we grow up rarely feeling heard, taken seriously, or respected. So this article is a good reminder to JUST LISTEN when someone is brave and present enough to honestly share a difficult experience--or a positive experience. Hell, any experience.