Can we stop invalidating people who say nobody cares about them?

These thoughts usually don’t come from nowhere. We don’t acknowledge how many times someone has to be told no one cares about them for this to happen. We don’t consider how often someone was and ones for being too honest about how they’re doing. We don’t think about how many kids are currently and actively neglected by their families.

We’d rather gaslight people into thinking these are always irrational thoughts, without asking more questions. Even therapists sometimes jump to that conclusion. Especially in kids, we’d much rather pretend all parents are loving and teens are hormonal than ask how often they're left alone when they need medical care, how often they’re disregarded when they tell their parents someone is bullying them, or how often their plans are disregarded for siblings’ needs. It’s more comfortable to do this than to acknowledge that some repeatedly get clear, irrefutable messages that the people closest to them don’t care about them.