Can you have a friend who is jealous of you but also cares deeply?

Toxic Friendship

I have a friend who I’ve always suspected is slightly jealous of me for whatever reason. She’s generally known to be quite mean an negative about most things and seems to enjoy being critical as a way of placing herself above others. For example if it’s something or one that everyone likes she’ll find a way to criticise it. She’s more likely to say something negative than positive let’s just say that.

I’m a multitalented person. I play instruments, love crafts, speak several languages, good at ice skating etc. And I’ve always felt like that irks her because she’s never really engaged with hobbies or had a passion outside her career, whereas I’ve never found passion in a career . Whenever I’m speaking other languages around her she has to make some snide comment…there’s a list of things. At one point she even tried the same craft as me, learning a language and ice skating too but didn’t stick it out.

But then when I needed money for dental treatment when I was unemployed she gave it to me. Like I know she is a caring person beneath her cold exterior but it’s just hard for me to want to be around her bc she drains my energy. I’ve started not sharing my plans with her because I’m scared she’ll attack them.

She’s said things like I need more friends and implies that I’m stuck in an old version of myself. Like she looks down on me because she’s successful in her career and has accessed high circles and I haven’t yet and I feel like it makes her feel better about herself. But because I don’t care about that, she can’t make me envy her. Like her holding that over me doesn’t work and I think that angers her even more (based on comments she’s made about me not caring about my career).

Idk what to do anymore. I do love her but having someone around who is so judgemental is hard. She’s definitely deeply insecure and projects that onto people unnecessarily…

Posted May 12, 2026, 8:08 AM UTC

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