Some people don’t want to catch up. They want an update to take back to someone else.

Not every question is curiosity. Some are collection, and the tell is the shape: they skip past how you are, go straight to the specific thing, then follow up on nothing you said. It is rarely malicious in any dramatic sense. They just have a conversation waiting somewhere else and need material for it.

Notice who asks about your situation but never about you. Give them the short version, the one you would be fine hearing repeated. Save the real answer for people who ask a second question.