The "F" Word Gone Wrong?

Hey, guys! I am so sorry for being MIA these past few weeks! I have just been swamped in homework and school. We will be continuing the subject about friendships, as I have said in the video I posted. Do not worry! I will be posting the video with Mckenzie Panick hopefully in the next week or so.

Personally, I have experienced some abusive friendships and relationships. In terms of friendships, I have just recently got out of a 7-year toxic friendship. I would probably say that getting out a friendship was much more difficult than a romantic relationship. However, that is me personally. I think that I am innately a people-pleaser, and it is difficult to stand up for myself, especially in a friendship. These past few weeks, I decided to not only look at some research, but also some personal testimonies of some people who have experienced similar situations. In a testimony by Amanda Scriver from “Healthline,” she described a relationship she had with a fan who turned into a close friend. One quote she used was “Gaslighters are terrible gossips” by Dr. Stephanie Sarkis, and this rang true with this relationship. In fact, this article later states that “8% of people who experience verbal or physical bullying” is from an intimate friend (Morrison). Scriver is passionate about people going through abusive friendships, and she encourages going to a therapist to resolve these conflicts (Morrison).

In another study I found, girls have proven to be more relationally abused compared to boys (Crick). This instantly made sense to me because if anyone went to middle school, you know that middle school girls were the absolute worst. I remember middle school being one the most miserable times for me because of merciless girls. Everyone has different memories from middle school, but most people would probably agree with me that middle school was not a fun time. The point is, I believe that we all experience a type of abuse at some point in our lives by our friends.

I have personally learned that “Iron sharpeneth iron,” from the Bible in Proverbs 27:17, rings very true in everyday life. Who you surround yourself with, the energy, and ideas you are around is incredibly important for your mental health, future, and much more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVMeV28vEuk

This YouTube channel is such a refreshing and sweet view of psychology. The goal of this channel is to bring basic psychology to YouTube. I totally recommend checking them out! Have a great week, lovelies!

Works Cited

Crick, N.R., Nelson, D.A. Relational and Physical Victimization Within Friendships: Nobody Told Me There'd Be Friends Like These. J Abnorm Child Psychol 30, 599–607 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020811714064

Morrison, William. “Abusive Friendships Are Real. Here's How to Recognize You're in One.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 29 Sept. 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/how-to-recognize-abusive-friendships#9.