Hello Tiny Buddha community!

I am a very empathetic person which I feel is both a blessing and a curse in the work place. I work in a very small office of about 12 people, so it’s a very intimate setting in terms of social interactions. I find that I tend to be the one that people come to to confide in, whether it is about work or personal conversations. I appreciate that people feel comfortable to build a rapport with me. However it can be very detrimental to the progress of my work constantly being interrupted so people can talk to me. In particular, there is one colleague that suffers from anxiety and insecurities in the work setting. I will name this person Sam. Sam used to be my best friend in the office. We are both sensitive people so we have a mutual understanding of each other on a deeper level when it comes to facing work stresses related to personal expectations. We both want to work hard and want to do well, but sometimes it puts unneeded stress and pressure on ourselves. The way Sam has been handling their stress however, has been counterproductive and is making me want to distance myself from them.

All I hear about these days is complaining about the constant challenges being faced in their work, and their sky-high anxiety in group meetings because their internal competition against other colleagues makes them insecure. We don’t talk about positive topics anymore. I want to be supportive of my friend and give them emotional and mental support when they need it. But I also don’t want to be someone’s on-the-go counselor during my work hours. I also don’t want to be that person where someone only wants to talk to me when they need to dump their emotions onto someone else. Their negativity is contagious and I’m finding myself feeling overwhelmed  being in the office. To the point that I’ve been working from home half the days in the week to avoid facing these external stresses. How do I politely express a boundary with my friend without sounding like I don’t care about their problems. It just feels like Sam looks to me to validate their emotions and tell them how to feel better each time they go down the rabbit hole, which is every day I’m at work… I want to be supportive but I struggle to distance myself from absorbing their anxieties meanwhile trying to balance my own mental health and personal work stresses.

Any suggestions on how I can forge healthier interactions with my friend and separate myself from their stresses?