It’s absolutely okay. If you’re not in the right position to do something for somebody then you can’t do it. And it really doesn’t sound to me, from what you described here, as if you are insensitive. I think if people are at a point when they’re struggling too much with their own problems to have the mental energy to help somebody else the way that other person needs the lack of inner resources (unfortunately) can make them react insensitively. However, as unfortunate as it is, I get the impression that this is likely some kind of self protective/defense mechanism at work – acting as a warning sign to people to protect their wellbeing when it’s not at a strong point. One approach I recently took was to pass on information on alternative help resources via a third party who can pass that information onto them. That way I’ve still tried to do something for them, but at the same time I am not agreeing to anything that I know I can’t do.