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I have a hypothetical situation of sorts... Humor me..
Say the topic of family is brought up for whatever reason. The advice of staying away from taboo topics (religion/politics) was given. Yet there are other more universal topics such as family that can turn out negative. It turns out your date has an alcholic father. She/he opens up to you about this, and continues to talk about whatever problems she had.
I have two schools of thought about this, each with some psychology under it, but I don't know if theres truth to one or either.
1) while your date may not visibly seem distressed, and may even make light of the situation, the topic surely is still a downer - even if just on some subconscious level. Would it be best to change the subject to something the other person is happy about, ie doing well in school etc. You wouldn't want your date to associate the feelings brought up by a depressing discussion with the date itself. And it might not even be a conscious type of association.
2) At the same time, if your date is opening up to you for whatever reason, there must be some relief to get things off their chest, and a stronger connection could be made beyond the dreaded 'small talk.' Should you continue to listen and try to simply be understanding and give your date a chance to vent?
What would the pro-conversationalist do? Keep the discussion positive by changing topics or allowing the conversation to take its natural course?
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"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth then lies." - Nietzsche
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