I was like that in my teens, and it really messed up my self esteem. I stopped being like that by my early 20's and didn't really look back until recently. Over 2 decades went by before I decided to figure what I was doing wrong during that time.

My conclusion is that I lacked personal boundaries, and I didn't stand up for myself (at least not without blowing up). Worst of all, I was attracted (not physically or sexually) to narcissists. YOu know those types, the grandiose people who love to talk about themselves like they were heroes every day of the week and tell you how the sun shines out of their ass. People just like by brother. This was because I was brought up to believe that I was supposed to be like him, but kept falling short.

Any time I met a narcissist I tried to become their best friend. It seemed to work at first because narcissists are good at being superficially friendly. Inevitably, the "friendship" would degenerate and my friend would become hostile. Another thing narcissists are good at is recruiting others into picking on someone.

Rather than leave bad situations I clung on, trying to revive the early fun days of the friendship. I simply did not know how to read people, or cut them loose once they started to disrespect me. It didn't help that I felt as though I deserved it. I just thought if I tried harder I would earn people's respect. It never works.

I don't know how exactly I changed, but I stopped feeling obligated to "make the relationship work". By the time I was in my mid 20s all of my friends were wonderful. Occasionally if I encountered someone who was disrespectful of me I simply put up a wall and didn't let them get to me.

Here are some questions to ask yourself?

Do you have an issue with personal boundaries? Are you opening up too much, too soon, or to the wrong people? Do you find yourself making friends with the same kinds of people?