Some people seem trapped in a need to elicit sympathy from the rest of the world; they may constantly dramatise, exude self-pity and appear eternally wronged. These people rarely advance or solve their problems without therapy. Interestingly, if we try to help them, our most effective strategy is usually to help them gain some distance or perspective from their emotions: an echo of precisely this Stoic principle. After a certain point, merely sympathising with and echoing their grumbles tends to reinforce them.
