I'm just wondering if any of yall can relate. I find that I quickly hit my limit when someone bitches about something too much. Best way I can explain it is they go beyond "working through something" and into something more toxic. Wether it be complaining directly about someone, their job, their spouse, their divorce, etc. In my mind I wish I could find a gentle way to tell them that they're not "getting it off their chest" anymore. They're actually further exacerbating the issue for themselves by digging the wound deeper. They're letting the problem consume their life more than using me to help them get through it or just vent. Too much of their mental energy is being taken up by what they bitch about cinstantly. And it gets toxic. I find that they make me feel consumed by it and I become leary to talk to them. It's as if I just cant absorb any more of this from them. Like, its hurting me now.

Example: I work with a guy that's going through a divorce. Anytime something about kids, relationships, wives, attorneys, idk...fucking anything that mentions the letter X. (oh, lemme tell you what my ex sent me last night). What he's actually doing without realizing it is trying to convince the people around him that he wasn't a shit husband. He's looking for validation that he's innocent. I feel like a lot of people do this. They shower you with way too much information about their personal arguments and legal issues that OF COURSE paint them as saints or martyrs. I just lose the mental capacity to entertain it.

I wish I knew of a healthy and constructive way to redirect them to something more fruitful that would possibly help instead of them just sucking my energy dry. I have a very hard time getting out of conversations anyway. So when I'm exhausted I just get trapped. Tell me I'm not the only one