Our friends are the most special and important people in our lives after our family. In fact, for many of us, our friends are like our family!
Real friends support, trust, and love us unconditionally. True friends will give back the same care, support, and love you give them. So, strong friendships help us feel happy and fulfilled and these people have our best interest at heart.
Being friends with people who don’t have our best interest at heart is therefore bad for our well-being. Toxic and fake friends are people who will make you feel worthless, insecure, and depressed.
This is because fake people are manipulative, abusive, and deceitful.
But, they’re very good at pretending so it’s not always easy to spot them. However, according to experts, there are signs that may help you recognize those fake friends quicker and stay away from them.
10 Signs Your Friends May Be Fake
- They’re selfish
In order for any relationship to work, both sides need to invest their time and effort.
If you tend to be the one who’s giving a lot in your friendship, but receiving a lot less, you may need to be more cautious.
Genuine friends will give as much as they get and will rarely neglect your friendship, but rather nourish it.
- They make you feel bad about yourself
A fake friend can never uplift your spirits like a real one is able to.
When you’re around fake friends, you’ll usually feel judged, insecure, and used.
At times, nothing may be said out loud, but you can feel this person’s judgment or rolling eyes aimed at you.
- They rarely have good things to say about you
A fake friend won’t just talk negatively about you behind your back, but they may also do it straight in your face, without any remorse or empathy.
These “friends” will hold you in a negative light and will rarely say good things about you. These people shouldn’t be part of your life because a true friend is simple-this is someone who likes you and you like them back.
- They sabotage you
Fake friends sabotage you on certain occasions. For example, you’re out in a bar with them and you’re flirting with someone.
They may come up to you and tell you that you’re making a fool out of yourself or that you look bad, just to deter you from a potential partner or happiness.
Is this something that a real friend would do?-Probably not!
- They don’t respect you
A fake friend doesn’t really care for your well-being, so they’ll be hurtful and rarely have respect for your boundaries.
They’re simply negative towards you and won’t show respect for your needs and boundaries-this means they really don’t care about you and don’t want you to thrive!
- They use you
Fake friends are the ones who want/need something from you.
A fake friend is usually the one who’s pretending to be your friend just because they want to get something from you.
Whether it’s money, a job, or being close to you because you’re close to a person they like, they’ll keep hanging out with you just to meet their needs/goals.
- Тhey’re jealous
Toxic people and fake friends don’t want you to succeed.
People who pretend to be your friends are usually narcissists who believe they’re better and more important than others. So, never expect them to be genuinely happy for you.
They will put you down when they feel jealous and threatened to glorify themselves and feel good.
- You can’t trust them
Whenever you think you can trust this person, they prove to you why you shouldn’t.
They can’t keep a secret and rarely fulfill their promises.
They can’t be trusted even with simple favors and as time goes by, they will cause you to feel hurt and disappointed, thinking something is wrong with you!
- They behave differently around other people
Fake people have several personalities and each surfaces out with different people. This is because they’re trying to get approval from others by behaving as they think these people would appreciate them.
Fake friends are usually behaving differently with you when you’re alone and when they’re among others.
They may pretend to like something they don’t or do something they don’t usually do, just to gain attention.
- They’re good manipulators
Manipulation isn’t always easy to spot.
This could be a person acting like a victim, someone who’s gaslighting you, or using triangulation.
At first, you can’t notice that you’re being abused by a person who you think is your friend. As time goes by, you’ll notice that they tend to control you and use you.
Real friends never manipulate or use thought-control methods.
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