How To Spot Fake Friends In Your Circle

Wouldn’t life be so much simpler without negative and toxic people? I mean - you’re pretty great, right? You’re there for your friends. You make time for them when they need you. And you always love having those deep conversations that get to the heart of who you both are, and what you both want in life. Real friendship is something special, and should always be treasured. But what isn’t worth the time, are fake friends. You know the ones - emotional drains that just feed on your kindness, but when you need them, they’re nowhere to be found. Life’s too short to waste it with people like this, and therefore, we wanted to help our lovely audience by outlining how to spot these kinds of people, and provide guidance on how to deal with them. And should more support be required, we recommend a telephone psychic reading with one of our trusted friends and psychic readers. Please call us today on 09057897752 (calls cost 80p per minute plus your network access charge) or 01618640152 to discover if fake people are lurking among your true friends.

What Real Friendship Looks Like

Before detailing how to spot fake friendships, it’s important to note what real friendship is, and how each friend should treat you. To start with, a true friend will always have your back, and stand up for you when others try to put you down. Defending your honour, they will also always do their best to help and support you when you need it, and build you up with kindness, compassion and understanding. They take the time to listen to your side when you’re dealing with disagreements at work, struggling with romantic relationship woes, or just need someone to talk to. What’s more, they provide honest insight into your situation, and though you may not always like their advice, you know deep down that it’s coming from a place of love and adoration, and with your best interests at heart.

True friends are also honest with you about who they are, and never try to deceive you to make them seem better than they really are. There’s substance to them, and they’re open with you, never afraid to show their vulnerability. A true friend trusts you wholeheartedly, and knows that you trust them too.

What’s more, they love you regardless of your differences. It doesn’t matter if you’re more into pop music and they prefer heavy metal. Or perhaps they prefer days at the beach and you like historical sites. You both share values that bring out the best in each other, and you only want the best for each other too. They encourage you to go after what you want in life, and help you in any way that they can. They’re your coach, your cheerleader and the one that celebrates all your wins and victories, and is ready to cheer you up when life gets tough, or doesn’t go to plan. They’ll input on your choices, help you to make more informed decisions and love you for the wonderful person you are.

How To Spot Fake Friends - Toxic People & Bad Behaviour

There are many tell-tale signs that you’ve got a fake friend on your hands, and it’s best you know them before investing further in any kind of relationship. These signs include:

1. They make you feel bad about yourself - From making you feel like you’re always in the wrong and as if you’re not good enough for that next step in life, through to making you feel as if you need to change to fit in and that you can’t let your personality shine through, fake friends and highly critical people will put a real damper on your self-esteem, and make you feel ashamed of yourself too.

2. They’re only interested in themselves - When they have a problem, it becomes everyone’s issue, and you’re expected to listen, offer advice and be there, regardless of whatever else you have going on in your life. When you have a problem you’d like some support with, suddenly they’re too busy, or nowhere to be seen. In other words, they just don’t care.

3. They don’t respect, or try to understand, your limitations - Real friends try to show compassion when their friends are faced with difficult situations or choices they don’t want to make. Fake friends, however, will have high expectations, and get frustrated with you when you don’t meet them, or disappoint them (as if they have a right to!). People have flaws, and boundaries, and real friends will love you for them.

4. They never have your back, and play the popularity game - It’s a fact of life that not everyone you meet will like you, and unfortunately, some may offer back-handed compliments to make you feel small. Real friends wouldn’t put up with that, and stand up for you, because they genuinely care. Fake friends, however, may join in the mean behaviour, because they want to be seen as cool, or as part of the group. Rather pathetic really.

5. They speak negatively about you behind your back - Think of all the best qualities of your friendship group, and the reasons why you love your friends. They’re caring. They’re kind. They’ve got your back, rather than talk about you behind it. Unfortunately, fake friends will gossip about you, share your secrets and will sell you out to dry. Real friends will say good things about you to others, so that they feel comfortable getting to know you better themselves.

6. They gaslight you - Gaslighting is a type of emotional abuse where manipulative people try to get you to question your own thoughts and better judgement. For example, you may know for a fact that a fake friend was being nasty to you in front of others, but when you confront them, they may make statements such as, ‘’How could you possibly think I’d do that to you? You know I’m your best friend!” You then may question whether what they did was meant as a joke, or whether you’re being overly sensitive.

Other abusive friendship signs include:

• They use emotional blackmail to always get their way.

• They use you to get to other people.

• They get jealous of your achievements.

• They have no commitment to the friendship.

How To Deal With Fake Friends

So now you know the signs to look out for, what can you do about fake friends? If you do care about them, then it’s worth giving them a chance to explain themselves, as it’s possible they are going through something, and they’re not wholly focused on the impact their behaviour is having. Try having a chat with them, and ask whether everything is alright, and if they need to talk about anything. If they are truly hurting your feelings - you shouldn’t feel the need to conceal this. Find the time to speak to them about how you feel, providing examples of behaviour you find unacceptable. If they’re a true friend, they’ll take the time to reflect on what you’ve said, and try their best to make changes. A fake friend may deny everything you’ve said, and it’s up to you whether keeping a toxic friendship is worth it.

Something to also realise, is that having a fake friend can impact you emotionally. Knowing someone you care about is being nasty about you, or to you, can be regularly upsetting, and can make you question your own thoughts and feelings - leading to exhaustion, overthinking and worry. No person has the right to make you feel this way, and please know that this is a reflection of their character, and not yours. This is their fault, and quite frankly, they don’t deserve friends as lovely as you are. In fact, staying their friend could be reinforcing their bad behaviour, and they may need to lose you - and others - to change. There’s also truth in the fact that the world rewards you with what you accept. In other words, if you accept bad friendships, then more will come. If you have self-respect, self-worth, and know when something isn’t right, then moving in with good intentions and friendships will bring more into your life too.

Deciding to end a friendship is never easy, but sometimes, you just have to do what’s right for you. Everyone has personality differences, and no-one is perfect, but no-one should ever be making you question your sanity, wonder if they truly care about you, and if you can actually trust them. We truly hope this blog has helped, and for further spiritual guidance, or advice from one of our psychic readers - which include clairvoyants, Angel Card readers and Tarot Card readers - please call today on 09057897752 (calls cost 80p per minute plus your network access charge) or 01618640152 for more information.