Like trying to understand the thought process of a mean person and becoming mean yourself, or trying to shift your own perspective to experience a new viewpoint, only to unintentionally unlock a negative thought pattern. I don’t know if this is making any sense, but often I get scared of empathising with negative people in fear of becoming negative myself. It sucks because I tend to easily give other people excuses and empathising is inevitable for me, but it’s often followed by bouts of anxiety where I become afraid that i will see where they’re coming from and start becoming like them.

If anyone can relate, how do you deal with it? I try to have enough trust in myself and my ability to make the right choices, but this does little to stop the “what if” thoughts.

P.S apologies in advance if I’m choosing the wrong subreddit to post, I couldn’t quite decide where this question would fit best.