You ever have a family member or someone in your life that you love dearly but they are consistently so negative and do so much complaining that it makes it difficult to be around them? How do you fix this dynamic without offending them?

We’re doing through grief so it’s an extra sensitive time but every time I’ve tried to speak on it with the people in question it just makes things worse, I’m usually pretty good at just accepting things are how they are but listening to negativity so often just becomes draining when i have my own head full of problems, any of you dealt with this before and how?

only one way; you don’t

Walk away.

been like that with every woman I dated longterm due to anxiety/depression. there’s nothing you can do bro, that’s just how they are. Better to keep your space and peace. it’s deadass a repetitive cycle that you can almost watch break down back into the negativity with triggers even if you manage to get them heavily on the staying positive side

these replies above are a bit too extreme lol

we dont even know if theyre negative towards OP or just a complainer about their life/things around them. theres a BIG diffefrence

OP if i were you id say "jokingly" with a smile all this negativity is bad for your health! just to plant that idea in their head and see if they reflect about it.

when they complain, never "yes and" and just give short answers letting them know u arent the person to dump this on. then bring up something positive to shift the mood

i usually just distance myself and limit interaction

if its family just gotta take it on the chin

my grandfather was grumpy n mean as s*** all the time so i just did my best to avoid talking to him

not really that big of a difference

no matter who or what it‘s directed at it‘ll still take a toll on op‘s life in the long run (clearly it does already)

misery loves company and most people know when they are being miserable and just need someone to get on their level

you gotta protect your peace, even if that means distancing yourself from someone

i learned this year that alzhemiers isnt just about forgetting...it comes witth ANGER! for some reason that symptom isnt mentioned as much as the typical forgetfulness (your grandpa coulda just been naturally grumpy ofc)

my grandma has it, and my mom and ucle are professionals now. whenever she gets angry they just mention a funny story

she could randomly shout that someone stole her money, or that her son abandoned her.. just random thoughts like that

Tell them tighten the f*** up before you give them a real reason to be negative

i agree but if its immediate family you really think u gotta ghost your own parent just like that?

not even try helping them change their lifestyle/mindset a bit??

but yes if its doing extreme mental health damage and theres no chance whatsoever I get it.

i think an uncontrollable mental disease is treated a little differently in this conversation, tolerance is needed

praying for your grandma. mine passed from Alzheimer’s in 2019. it’s sad talking to someone for hours you’ve known your whole life who doesn’t even know who you are yet has memories of you they are telling you about

I don’t. They’re energy vampires

honestly in his later years is when he calmed down much more, but that was probably moreso due to his parkinsons

but fearing im seeing that a lil with my g ma

my dad is like the opposite of what OP mentioned

i think he has undiagnosed anxiety paired with narcissism

always a fake dumb smile on his face, i inherited that smile and realized i was legit creeping people out then I stopped.

he describes everything to you like its the best in the world. all fake salesman style talk.... then it lets you down. hes addicted to describing things like that

always throwing a new venture/experiment/idea in my face while he just scrolls tiktoks. mf you go do those things then!!!

and once every other month he explodes. either smiling, or exploding lmao

ik somebody just like that

i used to like him when id only see him periodically and sporadically but at some point we started working together and i got sick of him so incredibly quickly loool

you described it perfectly tbh. i joke with my siblings that my dads everyones favorite uncle cause hes fun in quick doses! but more than that you just feel drained lmao

i tried helping out all my life and it never worked unless the person genuinely wanted to get out of their misery and change their thought process (it‘s possible with lots of therapy)

if it’s the first time and the person was living a happy life before of course i‘d try to help at first, but i learned to protect my peace at all times and leave it to professionals

oh for suree I didnt mean to compare alzheimers with what OP mentioned

thanks! may your grandma rest in peace
yeah its sad but thankfully gets easier... Im glad my mom and uncle are making her laugh with random stories + playing random music for her

fair tbh
yeah if I get the sense that theyre in too deep I wont intervene

beat they ahh into positivity

Offer a different perspective knowing they are look for a "win" in the conversation

I stopped engaging and left the environment ngl

This real

cut them off