Seeing people cry

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As a child( say younger than 7) what did you think when you saw somebody cry? Did you automatically associate this with a feeling of sorrow?

No. I ran away, probably because I'd wrongly been blamed at some point, so I (unknowingly) associated someone crying with getting told off.

I always felt like it was my fault. Even if I had nothing to do with the situation other than being there to witness it. I still feel this way to a lesser extent when I see somebody cry. I feel like i'm in some way indirectly responsible and feel like I need to get them to stop crying.

^^^this^^^

I used to get really anxious if I saw my mum cry, and I would panic and cry myself.

I remember when I was 3 there was a little girl crying at the door for her mum, and I felt concerned for her. I didn't know whether to join her and cry for my mum too, or to go up to her and ask if she wanted to play dollies with me. I don't remember what I did after that.

I didn't really feel responsible for the fact that they cried, but I thought it was somehow my job to comfort the person as soon as I happened to be the one around. I got (and still get) anxious in those situations, because I'm really not good at that kind of "job" ...



What is more, I can't block out the fact that tears are a bodily fluid.

I always knew they were sad. If a kid fell down or got pushed and started crying, I knew they were hurt if they started crying. If they were hit and they started to cry, they were hurt. I always cried when I got hurt so I associated that with other kids too. But if I saw a kid crying, I just thought they were sad. I used to see my mother cry a lot when I was little and I always knew she was sad but I didn't know why. I never had any affect from their emotions so it was like I felt nothing. I have no memories of trying to comfort anyone when they were sad. I acted like I ignored it and didn't notice. Also if I was playing with another kid and they started crying, I would panic and get scared because I would always get in trouble for my accidents for hurting them. I was pretty clumsy and seen as impulsive.

I know this is off-topic, but earlier today, my sister {who I still believe may have AS herself} tried provoking me into committing suicide because I was alone in my room crying because I still do not have a job. She was fortunately unsuccessful.

Ironically, my sister does not have a job also.

I kind of feel a sense of comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one who cries, when I see someone else crying.

I only have a small, vague sense of morbid fear when I see someone cry.
When I was little and my mom would cry, I'd always go and get my Share Bear CareBear and hand it to her.
A couple years ago, I was walking away from Summerfest with my family and there was this little boy bawling by the gates, presumably because he'd been separated from his family. I think that that was when I began to become aware that my natural response to crying was detachment with a vague sense of fear. These are my only two memories of other people crying. I don't know why I can't remember other times--I say other because I must have seen other times, but I don't remember much of my life from the ages of four to twelve.

I don't recall being aware of anyone crying as a child. I mainly blocked out things around me, but I may not have understood that it was a sign of anything.

I could relate to their sadness and also feel sad but nowadays I never know what to say or how to help people when they're sad.