What's the reason behind people who have to tell you that their problem's worse than anyone elses?

Question

It doesn't matter what I tell this lady, she's supposed to have had it worse, like she's in some competition to see who has had the worst case scenario.

Answer 1

Sounds a lot like Histrionic Personality Disorder, the psychological term for "drama queen."
For people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem depends on the approval of others and does not arise from a true feeling of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed, and often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention.
In many cases, people with histrionic personality disorder have good social skills; however, they tend to use these skills to manipulate others so that they can be the center of attention.
A person with this disorder might also:

Be uncomfortable unless he or she is the center of attention
Shift emotions rapidly
Act very dramatically—as though performing before an audience—with exaggerated emotions and expressions, yet appears to lack sincerity
Be overly concerned with physical appearance
Constantly seek reassurance or approval
Be excessively sensitive to criticism or disapproval
Be self-centered and rarely show concern for others
Have difficulty maintaining relationships, often seeming fake or shallow in their dealings with others

Basically, she likes being the center of attention and her way to get that attention is by having the worst problems, gaining sympathy from others.

Answer 2

Yea those people piss me off I know a girl that does the exact same stuff. I have like no social life whatsoever and am out of school at the moment. My life is completely going into the shitter. And she is like the frickin prom queen with a thousand friends. But somehow her having problems with her dad is way worse and she says that openly. Even though my dad is a druggie too who I barely see. I usually never complain about my life though this is the first time I've said anything about it in at least two months. It just pisses me off though that being depressed has become some social achievement its ridiculous.

Answer 3

Be like "Gosh, your life sucked worse than mine." Just kidding but don't let it bother you. Some people love squandering in their own misery.