Actually, it just boils down to how you naturally communicate. There was a study done on this specific social situation that showed that, while neurotypicals usually respond to a person telling an unfortunate story about themselves with something along the lines of “that’s awful” or “that must feel so X,” neurodivergent folks (specifically autistic, although in my personal experience it applies to cousin conditions like ADHD and BPD) were more likely to respond with a story of their own. To us, the first one feels hollow and token, where the second one actually shows that you know how they’re feeling, and that you’re truly sympathizing rather than putting on airs, but to a neurotypical person the second one usually feels like monopolizing the conversation, or even more drastically, getting into a pissing match over who had it worse.
It’s two drastically different neurotypes getting their wires crossed when trying to communicate with each other.
