So my (24F) friend Jaiden (24F) has come from, according to her, an abusive family in Asia. We are online friends but don’t know each other in real life. She wants to be the greatest person alive and constantly talks about how she wants to be this very great, multitalented person who’s an actress, model, fantastic artist, etc. and how she wants to be famous but then talks about how she’s horrible and will never be this all the time and IDK how to help anymore. I listen but she always asks me if I think she can be this person.

  • felixwhynot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    23 days ago

    This is tricky. You aren’t responsible for doing much here besides listening and giving whatever encouragement or support you feel is appropriate. I like to ask my friends if they put themselves down, “hey don’t talk about my friends like that!” It sometimes works. I also believe that skill in many fields is built up slowly and consistently over time, so I would consider asking her which skill she’s trying to develop right now and what she’s doing about it today. HTH

    • Aurora@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      22 days ago

      Thanks so much, I’ve tried that and she just complains about how she wants to be incredible but can’t

      • felixwhynot@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        22 days ago

        Sometimes people just want to hear their feelings validated and reflected back. You could try “that sounds hard, how do you feel about it?” But only if you have the energy for it and you want to!