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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

To withdraw from toxic friendship group ?

186 replies

Judygiraffe · 30/09/2021 10:08

So I'm 29, and am friends with a group of girls I met at secondary school , age. 29. Last year one of my friends , "left the group" as she felt it was toxic. She said she felt that both of us were just there to make the others feel better about their own lives , and I'm beginning to agree.

The queen bee married her childhood sweetheart at 22. At the time , because k wasn't in a long term relationship , I had a few more sexual partners than her. She'd regularly make comments to imply I was a slag, e.g. "I'm sorry, but your not discarded vagina is just not as sacred as ours."

However the marriage broke down when she was 26, ( she works at a university , she cheated on him with one of her 19 year old undergraduate students). Immediately after the marriage broke down, she signed up to dating sites and was having multiple sexual encounters, ( including threesomes), with men she met off the internet. She never apologised for repeatedly calling/ implying I was a slut previously, and instead went on to judging and making harsh comments about people she felt hadn't had enough sexual partners , ( she's now changed from judging people she feels have too much sex, to judging people who have to little sex).

Despite this , I was supportive of her during the time of her marriage breakdown. She'd ring multiple times a day, and I was supportive. Yet we went out for a meal with another girl in the group a few weeks later, and she rveeted back to openly mocking me for sleeping with more people than she had in front of the other girl, ( at this point, she had actually slept with many more people than I had, but didn't want the other girl to know this). I didn't say anything to reveal she had been having threesomes / sleeping with more men, as I didn't want to embarrass her.

She regularly gives the , ( unasked for) opinion that Lucy* , ( another girl in the group), "doesn't know how to be single" and berates her for getting together with her new boyfriend too quickly after s relationship break up. Despite this , she was signed up to online dating sites within days of her own marriage breaking down....

She regularly mocks me and Lucy for making "bad choices in relationships" but skirts over the fact her first husband had a lot of issues, ( he'd regularly shout racist abuse out the car windows at other drivers, would regularly shout "j , get the f out if my chair, I want to sit next to my f* wife" at group meals), and that she then dated on her undergraduate students.

She regularly makes comments about Lucy's tattoos being badly drawn and tacky, despite the fact she herself has tattoos.

The queen bee told her new boyfriend I had previously been raped, and he casually brought this up in conversation the first time we went out for lunch together, which left me feeling awkward. He regularly gives pseudo diagnosis's to members of the group , ( one evening he repeatedly told me I must be autistic cos I didn't look people directly in the eye, and refused to listen despite the fact I wa getting tearful and trying to explain I have a diagnosed visual impairment that makes that difficult). He also tells anyone that will listen that Lucy* had classic abandonment issues due to the fact her parents immigrated abroad when Lucy was 19.

We also have a mutual aquantance who has a mild learning disability, ( still functioning enough to work, drive , live independently etc). She has recently announced an engagement to a lovely man, ( I have met him), and instead of saying congratulations, all they can do is laugh and mock cos she had a broken engagement to someone else four years previously.
Am I right to just slowly stop bothering with the group ?

OP posts:
AWiseWomanOnceSaidFuckThisShit · 03/10/2021 13:37

She sounds like that cunty character from Motherland

JelliedHeels · 03/10/2021 14:07

@AWiseWomanOnceSaidFuckThisShit

She sounds like that cunty character from Motherland
Amanda?
Talkingmouse · 03/10/2021 14:20

A painful read. Block the QB, go out with old friend Sally soon, and don’t look back.

Justilou1 · 03/10/2021 14:21

Jeesus! Even QB’s parents emigrated to get the fuck away from her! You should follow suit!!! Don’t bother explaining why you’re voting to leave the island (It’s like Lord of the Flies anyway.) They will simply use anything you say to try and humiliate you. Just go.

DuchessOfDisaster · 03/10/2021 18:32

Am I right to just slowly stop bothering with the group ?

No you're not.

You should just bin them NOW! Don't phase them out, just get out! They are like the Heathers. Horrible creatures!

DuchessOfDisaster · 03/10/2021 18:37

@bridgeofslides

This is all batshit. But I guess if you don't experience much social turnover then your idea of acceptable behaviour within a friendship might become a little skewed.
Absolutely. What a set of whackos.
DuchessOfDisaster · 03/10/2021 18:37

@Judygiraffe

So an update, I told QB and Aleesha that I didn't like how they spoke to me , they both blocked me on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
Result!
reader12 · 03/10/2021 22:48

Excellent! You can start a new WhatsApp group with just the nice people in it. And those two can enjoy being horrible to each other for the rest of their days.

HannaHanna · 03/10/2021 23:17

Did something change or was it always this awful?

And in all the time you’ve been friends did you ever tell them that you didn’t like the way they treated other people?

It might make sense to get some counseling now. You've spent nearly two decades being friends with people who have no ethics, no morals and treat everyone around terribly. You witnessed this and likely participated in at least some of it. For instance, you knew one of them was looking up people’s private information and then sharing it, completely against the law and a wretched thing to do, yet continued on spending time with her. It sounds like your idea of what is normal is off kilter.

HannaHanna · 03/10/2021 23:19

Also, I think the guy should know his records were breached.

Justilou1 · 04/10/2021 07:14

Definitely inform anyone you know that their records have been breached. Horrible people.

MzHz · 04/10/2021 07:50

@Judygiraffe

So an update, I told QB and Aleesha that I didn't like how they spoke to me , they both blocked me on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
Now block the awful fuckers right back dm don’t ever respond to any messages from of on behalf of them, cos they could want there little narcissistic supply back at some point
BrightYellowDaffodil · 04/10/2021 13:44

And those two can enjoy being horrible to each other for the rest of their days.

And you know what? They're stuck being like that.

I walked away from a toxic friendship group once (it was a physical leaving as well as an emotional one as it was a residential situation). When I did one of the people was extremely nasty - she was desperately insecure and the 'rejection' of someone choosing to leave the group had clearly upset her. I remember her shouting "Goodbye and good riddance". My response was "I can walk away but you're stuck being you forever".

MzHz · 04/10/2021 14:07

Loved that @BrightYellowDaffodil!

Sudokuzebra · 08/10/2021 17:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

buckeejit · 08/10/2021 17:54

LTB

Judygiraffe · 20/10/2021 16:14

So as an update, Queen Bee"a boyfriend texted me to say I was toxic and list the many ways me disagreeing with them meant I "must " be autistic. It included the lines , " I'm saying this as I'm intelligent enough to understand diagnosis helps people," and , ', don't bother to tell us your not autistic again until you have a psychiatrists assessment."

Thinking I'm best off out of it...

OP posts:
Honeyroar · 20/10/2021 16:18

Just text back “sorry, I’m not interested in any of your opinions. Or spending any more time with you all.” And block him. I’m not sure why you haven’t already blocked him.

I hope you’ve had a good few weeks with your genuine friends?

Judygiraffe · 20/10/2021 16:20

I blocked QB, I didn't realize her boyfriend has my number, ( presumably QB gave it to him).

OP posts:
Judygiraffe · 20/10/2021 18:20

I have also now blocked Queen bee's boyfriend.

OP posts:
Mooloolabababy · 20/10/2021 19:21

Seriously op, just don't engage anymore!! Nothing you say to any of them will ever make them see how bad their behaviour is...nothing.
It will always your fault in their eyes, block, move on, don't engage.

Britneyb · 20/10/2021 19:52

@ButYouGottaHaveASkillJeff I’m in exactly the same situation. Feeling a little friendless at the moment but a lot less anxious, hopefully the friend situation will pick up soon. Would you recommend any of the books you’ve read? I’ve tried looking for podcasts about it and found Baggage reclaim is good.

SleepingBunnies21 · 20/10/2021 20:00

Just text back “sorry, I’m not interested in any of your opinions. Or spending any more time with you all.” And block him

Don't do that.

Just ignore and block.

There is absolutely no point interacting or responding.

The irony of him calling other people autistic with his behaviour.
Bullying people about their brexot vote, talking about people's sexual.assailt casually the first time he met them.(when they didn't even know he had been told about it, abd strictly speaking he should take have veen).

Leave rhen to it, they are an utterly fuvked up, toxic couple. When hes sick of psycho analysing bullying and gas lighting her friends, he'll do it to her too.

In fact we know he already is, because of the gas lighting aboit the likely cheating he was doing.

Thrhbseserve each other.

The other mate is either a muppet or equally toxic.

SleepingBunnies21 · 20/10/2021 20:01

@Mooloolabababy

Seriously op, just don't engage anymore!! Nothing you say to any of them will ever make them see how bad their behaviour is...nothing. It will always your fault in their eyes, block, move on, don't engage.
Yup.
SleepingBunnies21 · 20/10/2021 20:03

I'm saying this as I'm intelligent enough to understand diagnosis helps people,"

I'd be so tempted you text back just "you're not ..... intelligent".

But don't Smile