Who is someone in your life that has actually made you a worse person?

I played women's soccer my whole life. In high school I was the only freshman to make the varsity team. It was a big deal, I was unbelievably nervous, I had no friends and I desperately wanted to fit in with the underclassmen.

I was very prude at the time and young. I was 13 and I hadn't really grasped my head around heterosexual relationships let alone gay relationships. One girl on the team was your classic manipulator. She was two years ahead of me in school and older for her grade so there was a bit of an age gap. She also happened to be gay.

Anyway long story short, the girl took a liking to me and started her manipulating bullshit. She reeled me in and made me feel accepted on the team. I was grateful that I had someone to talk to, and since she was always very funny I felt like I was cool just by being around her. After a while, she started to open up to me about mental health issues and I felt bad for her and privileged that she felt comfortable enough to let me in. I'm naturally a very considerate person and I would always be there to talk. Eventually, she would start letting me know when she cut herself.

In a few short months, she talked me into a relationship with her. She did this by saying that I didn't love her enough and paired it with her depressive tendencies. Not long after, I found myself spending all my time worrying about her, worrying that I would say the wrong thing and desperately trying to find ways to keep her happy. I was completely isolated from my friends and family, who had given up on trying to get me to see the truth.

This went on for about a year and a half. Later on she told me she was cheating on me the entire time. I was just another victim for her, but the experience changed my entire perspective on relationships. Because of the occasional verbal abuse, I wound up developing an eating disorder that I still struggle with sometimes.

Because of her, I have been battling self-doubt, self-consciousness, and trust issues ever since. But, It's been about 7 years since. I've gotten a degree in Nutrition. I found a passion for it since the development of the eating disorder. I am also in a stable, long-term relationship. No matter how far I've come though, I still look back at those days and shudder.

It was a horrible experience that I, to this day, would take back or change in a heartbeat.

/r/AskReddit Thread