“I Can’t Imagine What You’re Going Through” Isn’t Comforting. Here’s Why.

This common sympathy phrase hurts more than it helps.Photo by 青 晨 on Unsplash

Some words are meant to wrap grievers in comfort, but land like a painful jab in the chest.

Few phrases are more hurtful than: “I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

If you’ve been on the receiving end of these words in the aftermath of loss—whether it was a death, a divorce, a diagnosis, or some other life-altering event—you probably know exactly how alienating it feels to hear them in response to your circumstance...