It's Not About Me...but then maybe it is

Caregivers always apologize when they talk about their stress or their tiredness or their troubles. It’s almost a guarantee that if a caregiver dares to cop to feeling bad, mad or sad—or God forbid resentful—they will immediately say, “But I know this isn’t about me.” Or “But I’m not the one who is ill.”

But then again, maybe you are.

Here is more from Professor David Karp (“The Burden of Sympathy”): “All illnesses are potentially contagious in the sense that the stories of sick people become deeply woven into the biographies of those who feel commitment to them.”