Friends are some of the most important people in your life. They support you during hardships and celebrate your victories with you. But what if the person you consider a friend is actually an enemy in disguise? That’s exactly what we’ll be talking about in this article. So keep on reading to learn how to identify fake friends in life.
How to Identify Fake Friends In Life: 7 Common Signs
1. It Always Feels Like You Are Interviewing Them
Are you the only one asking them questions about their life while they show no interest in yours? Then you may feel like you are constantly on an interviewer mode, and understandably so.
After all, fake friends tend to be selfish and self-absorbed. So they don’t care about other people’s feelings, thoughts, or what’s going on in their life. In other words, they expect you to make everything about them. And the worst part? They want you to be okay with it.
2. They Don’t Respect Your Boundaries
This person keeps disregarding all your boundaries, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial. For example, they may continuously invade your personal space and try to make it seem normal. Or ask you for money on a daily basis, treating you like their personal piggy bank.
And if you decide to refuse? Then they immediately accuse you of being a bad friend, claiming you don’t care about them at all. Additionally, they may feel like they are entitled to your time and get instantly offended if you can’t share it with them.
3. They Insult You But Call It a Joke
They may make fun of you in the harshest way possible, attacking all your flaws and imperfections. Yet, when you confront them about it, they will tell you it’s all a joke and you are taking it too seriously.
They may even attempt to make you feel guilty for your reaction, doing their best to convince you that you are the problem and not them. Don’t be surprised if they will also suggest you to see a therapist in the name of “friendly advice”.
4. They Are Jealous of You
As much as they may try to hide it, their jealous nature will still come to the surface sooner or later. For example, let’s say you are talking about your recent achievement at work or school, feeling very proud of yourself because of it.
But instead of celebrating it with you and congratulating you, your fake friend will try to downplay your success, saying things like, “Anyone could have done it” or “It’s not really that big of an achievement.” These are the words of someone who can’t feel happy for you because they don’t truly care about you.
5. They Try to Gain Something from You
Fake people are usually attracted to things like social status, and money. So if you possess these things, they’ll immediately gravitate toward you. For instance, they may befriend you because of your social status, hoping you would introduce them to other influential people who can help them advance in their career.
6. They Try to Discourage You
Fake friends hate it when you are doing better than them, so they will attempt to stop you from achieving your goals and dreams. You may be talking about getting a new job or visiting the countries you always wanted to, expecting your friend to encourage you.
But instead, they may tell you to forget about that job because you don’t have the skills for it. Or you shouldn’t visit any of those countries because you have better things to spend your money on.
7. They Make Excuses Why They Can’t Support You
Everyone experiences hardships in life, but they can be easier to deal with if you have someone to support you through them. Unfortunately, you can’t expect this from fake friends because they are never there when you truly need them.
As a matter of fact, they will try to come up with all kinds of ridiculous excuses to justify why they abandoned you. And “I broke my leg in three places” may or may not be one of them.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many signs that can help you identify fake friends in life. And oftentimes, you may not be able to notice them from the beginning because the person can be good at hiding them.
So if you start suspecting that your friend may be fake, continue observing their behavior before you reach a definite conclusion. And once you do, try to remove them from your life as soon as possible because they don’t deserve a place in it.
