
ugh, this is so strange reading since i literally had a similarly toxic friendship. i understand and greatly sympathize – maybe even empathize with both of their perspectives.
this ex friend of mine had a bit of a habit of comparing our struggles with those around us. Saying since they have more privilege they can't possibly have it that bad. I didn't agree with their perspective at first but since they were stubborn about it and i had nobody else at the time, i joined in on the "trauma scaling".
they sometimes even compared our individual traumas, saying that i had it "worse". which, even from an objective standpoint, is bullshit since we went through very different things that on a surface level looked worse than that of our peers.
trauma and hardships is something one should not compare, even if it seems something as trivial as being scared of crowds or an inability to do basic self care. because one would never truly know what another person is going through. And for one person, being screamed at by a stranger wouldn't bother them much, but for another it would leave a lasting effect. had to learn to sympathize and show compassion for them myself.
but i can also understand that they are young highschoolers who have yet to learn about different perspectives, and don't have the kind of mental health support many in the west have access to. Since i do have an immigrant background, i have a good idea of how mental illness and abuse is viewed.
it's one one thing to say that shit in private, another in front of a school full of moth brained dickheads. what the fuckkk