Why is that people saying “I’m sorry that happened to you” make me so uncomfortable??

Even though they’re attempting to express sympathy, I find that it feels emotionally detached, sort of like a very bare-bones “I don’t know how to help you, but I’ll give you this empty platitude to show that I care.” It feels like a “lacking” response because so many people use it already that it’s become the default “polite” go-to. It requires no effort or deep thinking to say, the person isn’t even guaranteed to have any real feelings when they say it. I shut down because it just feels like they’re picking the socially acceptable way to respond. But on the other hand, sometimes people have no idea what to say, so that’s why they use it.

/r/CPTSD Thread