I don't trust anyone anymore...

I stopped trusting people a long time ago. Now, it’s strictly my immediate family or nobody at all.
It isn't just about doubting what people say. I find myself constantly reading between the lines, dissecting their actions and reactions. No matter how crazy it sounds, I always end up spotting the cracks...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for perfection. I know nobody is perfect—I certainly am not.
But I look for basic decency. A shred of genuine goodness. And yet, I always end up disappointed by the sheer amount of greed and envy that slips through in even the smallest comments or gestures.
People probably think I’m some kind of perfectionist or a nitpicker. Maybe. But honestly, I’m just exhausted by everyone trying so hard to curate this flawless image of themselves. My contact list has dwindled down to just a few names because I simply don't have the energy to hunt for the best in people anymore... especially when I'd rather be alone than settle for fake connections just to avoid loneliness.
I used to be very social. I have my flaws, sure... but if I make a promise, I keep it. That seems to be a rare commodity these days. When I give an opinion, I’m brutally honest. I say what I mean. I think that's why my circle is so small—very few people actually want to hear the truth, and even fewer truly care about others... at least not in the way I do.

How do you view people? Do you trust too easily? If so, why? If not, why not?

Honestly, I don't buy into any of it either, and let's be real—I rarely feel any genuine love for anyone. Humanity is basically just a faulty product off a broken assembly line, and there isn't much you can do about it. Some people actually put in the work to fix themselves, while others just stay stuck, and man, I still have such a massive mountain of stuff left to learn and master myself.

So, what went wrong? 🍿

Spot on.
The more people I meet, the more I realize how much fake energy is out there—honestly.
Is being genuine really that hard? 🤔
It’s not like you’re losing anything by being real.

They say one thing, think another, and then do something completely different...
You just can't rely on anyone.
There's way too much acting going on—people act all sweet to your face, but the second you turn your back, they start trashing you, which is just straight-up nasty to hear... it makes me wonder how I can even pretend everything is fine when they go from "best friends" to enemies that fast.
It... well, it just makes you stop and think.
And honestly? That’s most people for you.
Then you've got the suck-ups, obviously.
They’ve basically traded their entire personalities just to please others—they agree with everyone and everything. They don't even have their own opinions anymore; they just borrow someone else's.
Total sheep. Just mindless sheep.
It's actually pretty pathetic.

Carol Sullivan said:I stopped trusting people a long time ago. Now, it’s strictly my immediate family or nobody at all.
It isn't just about doubting what people say. I find myself constantly reading between the lines, dissecting their actions and reactions. No matter how crazy it sounds, I always end up spotting the cracks...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for perfection. I know nobody is perfect—I certainly am not.
But I look for basic decency. A shred of genuine goodness. And yet, I always end up disappointed by the sheer amount of greed and envy that slips through in even the smallest comments or gestures.
People probably think I’m some kind of perfectionist or a nitpicker. Maybe. But honestly, I’m just exhausted by everyone trying so hard to curate this flawless image of themselves. My contact list has dwindled down to just a few names because I simply don't have the energy to hunt for the best in people anymore... especially when I'd rather be alone than settle for fake connections just to avoid loneliness.
I used to be very social. I have my flaws, sure... but if I make a promise, I keep it. That seems to be a rare commodity these days. When I give an opinion, I’m brutally honest. I say what I mean. I think that's why my circle is so small—very few people actually want to hear the truth, and even fewer truly care about others... at least not in the way I do.

How do you view people? Do you trust too easily? If so, why? If not, why not?

I'm in the same boat; there isn't a single person left that I can point to and say I trust 100%. To be honest, I'm not even sure if such a person ever really existed. ☕

About ten years ago, an old history teacher told me to just rely on myself and my own instincts, and that's stayed with me. 😳

Everyone’s got their own vibe, I guess... but honestly, I don't think people actually hate each other, they just love to sit in judgment. Like one day I'll hear someone whining, "Oh, let the taxes hit the rich, let them pay for the luxury SUVs and those overpriced designer bags," and I'm just sitting there thinking, WTF? Who actually gives a damn? It's just pathetic. Seriously, the attitude in this country is just bottom-of-the-barrel. Such a joke.

ambercrane722 said:Everyone’s got their own vibe, I guess... but honestly, I don't think people actually hate each other, they just love to sit in judgment. Like one day I'll hear someone whining, "Oh, let the taxes hit the rich, let them pay for the luxury SUVs and those overpriced designer bags," and I'm just sitting there thinking, WTF? Who actually gives a damn? It's just pathetic. Seriously, the attitude in this country is just bottom-of-the-barrel. Such a joke.

It's true what they say about seeing the speck in someone else's eye while ignoring the log in your own.😳 You're totally right, especially in this part of the country. Everyone is so obsessed with judging how others live, yet they never want to mention it when they do the exact same thing. Such a shame.😳

God, the absolute state of the Mediterranean... I heard someone talking about some girl walking around looking like she’s strutting down a runway in downtown Chicago or something. Like, what the hell? Or girls just screaming, "Hey, look at my chest!" It’s honestly pathetic. People are just gross. Everyone spends their entire lives peeking over the fence into their neighbor's yard just to have something mindless to gossip about. Even this forum is just a mirror image of that same shallow society.

You don't need to be paranoid.
Personally, I'm an open book—I trust everyone until they give me a reason not to.
I don't go around acting suspicious or looking for trouble.
Honestly, I especially tend to believe the people I couldn't care less about, even when they're lying straight to my face.

It all depends on the source of the "rumor," I suppose.😛
Even my own family isn't always on the same page, so I tend to take their word with a grain of salt as well.😛

Everyone has their own little agenda; personally, I only find myself trusting maybe two colleagues at most.
As for everyone else, they’re just typical people—they'll say whatever comes to mind, whether it's pure gossip or what they perceive to be the truth.

But if someone actually agrees with you, at least you know you probably won't be able to rely on them much.

Man, being an oversensitive person is such a heavy burden. We’re honestly our own worst enemies.
I swear, I wish I didn't have these internal sensors constantly nagging at me. Sometimes it feels like I can actually read people's minds, and it is just exhausting. And no, I'm not being delusional. People who actually know me believe it because they've dealt with it firsthand—it gets pretty spooky for them, and even creepier for me.

It’s easy for the shallow types; they just coast through life without a second thought. But us? We torture ourselves by overanalyzing every little thing, which just makes everything harder.

I'm at my best when I'm slammed with work. As soon as I have a spare moment to actually think, I end up ruining my own day. Though, I still manage to overanalyze things even when I'm in a total rush, 🙄but at least then I don't have the luxury of letting it kill my mood.

I get people. I can read body language pretty well—I mean, I'm not some perfect psychic or anything, but I'm decent at it. It's the same on online forums; I can quickly pick up on what's being read between the lines and what kind of person is actually behind the screen. But honestly, knowing all that is totally unnecessary and just draining.

I have friends, but not a ton of them, which I think is pretty normal. I don't trust anyone 100%, but I don't really need to. Everyone is human, and it's just stupid to expect perfection. If you really dig deep into yourself, who among us is ever truly, 100% honest all the time? We don't even have to be. Being brutally honest isn't just wrong for other people—it hurts us too—it's also just rude and unnecessary.
I only finally figured that out once I grew up and dealt with enough social disasters...

The less we expect from people, the happier we'll be!
The world doesn't owe us a custom fit; we have to step up and meet it halfway too.

casualridge6 said:Man, being an oversensitive person is such a heavy burden. We’re honestly our own worst enemies.
I swear, I wish I didn't have these internal sensors constantly nagging at me. Sometimes it feels like I can actually read people's minds, and it is just exhausting. And no, I'm not being delusional. People who actually know me believe it because they've dealt with it firsthand—it gets pretty spooky for them, and even creepier for me.

It’s easy for the shallow types; they just coast through life without a second thought. But us? We torture ourselves by overanalyzing every little thing, which just makes everything harder.

I'm at my best when I'm slammed with work. As soon as I have a spare moment to actually think, I end up ruining my own day. Though, I still manage to overanalyze things even when I'm in a total rush, 🙄but at least then I don't have the luxury of letting it kill my mood.

I get people. I can read body language pretty well—I mean, I'm not some perfect psychic or anything, but I'm decent at it. It's the same on online forums; I can quickly pick up on what's being read between the lines and what kind of person is actually behind the screen. But honestly, knowing all that is totally unnecessary and just draining.

I have friends, but not a ton of them, which I think is pretty normal. I don't trust anyone 100%, but I don't really need to. Everyone is human, and it's just stupid to expect perfection. If you really dig deep into yourself, who among us is ever truly, 100% honest all the time? We don't even have to be. Being brutally honest isn't just wrong for other people—it hurts us too—it's also just rude and unnecessary.
I only finally figured that out once I grew up and dealt with enough social disasters...

The less we expect from people, the happier we'll be!
The world doesn't owe us a custom fit; we have to step up and meet it halfway too.

I learned the exact same thing growing up. People just don't like hearing the truth.
Whenever I'm blunt, people tell me I sound harsh.
But if what I'm saying is logical and true, 😲 they still hate hearing it—whether it's about themselves, me, or anyone else.

If you don't expect anything from people, you won't end up getting screwed over. 😳

I suppose I only truly trust my own child and myself... 👍 ...but if her social circle manages to brainwash her... well, then I’m just left standing there on my own. 😉.. and what can you really do? There are arguably much larger crises in life than matters of faith. 😁

Jerry Bishop4 said:I learned the exact same thing growing up. People just don't like hearing the truth.
Whenever I'm blunt, people tell me I sound harsh.
But if what I'm saying is logical and true, 😲 they still hate hearing it—whether it's about themselves, me, or anyone else.

If you don't expect anything from people, you won't end up getting screwed over. 😳

It's a fact.

Honestly, I’ve reached a point where I just don't care anymore whether I can trust someone or not... People are going to interpret whatever you say through their own distorted lens anyway, so why bother? It’s gotten to the point where I find myself trusting fewer and fewer people every single day.

But if we look at chronic distrust through the lens of empirical observation, there are usually a few specific psychological drivers behind it:

1. The individual is a liar themselves—someone who manipulates, plays dirty, and smears anyone in their path just to get what they want. Because they aren't delusional enough to deny their own shady tactics, they naturally assume everyone else is playing the same game.

2. The person has been repeatedly victimized—someone who has been exploited, lied to, manipulated, and brainwashed over and over again, eventually developing a deep-seated cynicism as a survival mechanism.

3. A toxic combination of both scenario 1 and scenario 2.

And frankly, that last one seems to be the most common pattern I see out there...

ambercrane722 said:God, the absolute state of the Mediterranean... I heard someone talking about some girl walking around looking like she’s strutting down a runway in downtown Chicago or something. Like, what the hell? Or girls just screaming, "Hey, look at my chest!" It’s honestly pathetic. People are just gross. Everyone spends their entire lives peeking over the fence into their neighbor's yard just to have something mindless to gossip about. Even this forum is just a mirror image of that same shallow society.

Don't go fooling yourself into thinking things are any different once you cross the borders of the Mediterranean...

Queen of Spades .. I appreciate you! 🙏

Sam Robinson said:Don't go fooling yourself into thinking things are any different once you cross the borders of the Mediterranean...

It applies to everyone, really... personally, I tend to view those kinds of criticisms as mere excuses—perhaps even mitigating circumstances in a court of law, if one were inclined to be generous.

Garbage is garbage, regardless of who is being forgiven. 😛

I honestly think you’re just going through one of those major life shifts, Carol Sullivan. Once you finally kick all those exhausting, fake, and toxic people to the curb, you’ll notice a whole new crowd of actual decent humans starting to show up. 🙂 I’ve definitely felt that shift myself—it’s something I’ve seen happen to plenty of my own friends and acquaintances too.

Sure, you might still run into some unpleasant types from time to time, but they won’t stick around for long.

Everything else is fine, but when people won't shut up about Taylor Swift, some random girl from down the street, or even just some pop star they don't even know personally... like, seriously, what is wrong with you guys? Constant commentary on every little thing—it's exhausting. Honestly, it feels like people just can't find anything better to do with their lives. It really makes me lose faith in humanity.

redbear2 said:So, what went wrong? 🍿

It isn't even about being screwed over—it’s not about anyone specifically. It’s just what I see when I watch people and how they interact. Everyone seems to say the exact same thing: you can't fully trust anyone except yourself and, if you're lucky, your immediate family.
The point is simple: I've matured, and that's fine...

Besides, even if someone did screw me over, like you claim, it probably would have just made me more resilient and more self-reliant... it's just that it hasn't happened to me yet, at least not on that level. I've grown a bit wiser with age... 🍿

A psychologist might try to label that as one of your personality traits—you know, some deep-seated disbelief in others—but if you ask me, just a regular person on the street, I’d say this: don't go handing out your trust to anyone you haven't truly gotten to know yet. Trust isn't something you just give away; it has to be earned first.