It sounds like a lot of them were abusing you and gaslighting you about it. That sounds maddening to deal with. I'm sorry you've had to deal with that. ๐ซ
this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
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I've heard workplaces tell employees they're just being sensitive. It's a bullying technique to discredit the victim.
Worst part is HR will likely side side with the bullies.
I find workplace bullying is worse.
As someone who was bullied it was also easy to see bullying in non bullying behaviour. It is good to give the benefit of the doubt but you do have to realize when someone has obviously crossed the line. There can be misunerstandings but if someone is coming over and saying they are going to beat you up and then do that its not a misscomunication issue.
I think people need to figure out the warning shot. Like you have to find an assertive non-hostile way to tell someone to stop their behaviour. If they continue to do it, then the "it's not bullying" card becomes pretty flimsy.
Well, the authorities (of any kind) are usually the ones bullying you. I was never really bullied by my peers outside of light teasing, but the teachers (especially in my primary school) accused me of anything they could.
If you're a minority, don't expect the authorities to be on your side. You're an inconvenience to them since you are different than most and harder to manipulate.
Not in these words, but I've been told by my dad bullying is just a friendly interaction and that I'm overly sensetive.
I guess I shouldn't have gotten mad for being constantly humiliated and assaulted by my classmates and teachers.
I don't miss school by a bit.
What an arse, sorry. Being bullied is being bullied. Even if someone is "tougher" than you and might just see "harmless fun" in it, you don't. And it ain't. It just went above his limited understanding of this world.
Sounds like he didnโt know the difference between banter and bullying.
Basically. Everyone else can laugh at me and talk their shit, but when I stand up for myself, Iโm the problem. Those days are over. I say what I want to say.
I'm sorry mate. But let me tell you from an old farts point of view:
Fuck them. Fuck the bullies and fuck everyone not believing you. They're idiots. Cut toxic people out of your life. There's nothing wrong with you, you're just maybe differently "wired" and it scares them. Shows their weakness, not yours though.
And also: it's those people like you, "underdogs" or the bullied, that turn out to be the most interesting people in the end. The bullies most likely end up forgotten and irrelevant.
Helps not while you're still being bullied, I know. But still.
I didn't feel like I was being bullied. My parents didn't treat me much better than the other kids or teachers. I just didn't want to be around others at all regardless of the circumstance. Baseball game? Birthday party? Park? Nope, I want to stay home in my room. Recess at school? Nope, want to hide in the bathroom. I didn't learn that people are supposed to be nice to you and have fun with you until adulthood.
I didnโt learn that people are supposed to be nice to you and have fun with you until adulthood
Yep I had that as well, most shocking thing i experienced in my life was how nicely people treated me at university rather than at home. Things got worse again when i changed to a different uni.
This smacks of the same nonsense as when they used to tell us "You're just being too sensitive". It's bullshit. You have a healthy understanding of right and wrong and they are responsible for their actions and how those actions make you feel.
Spreading rumors, calling people names etc isn't just rude, it is bullying especially if they encourage others to bully you as well.
Yep.
It really becomes important not to value the opinions of others when you are different and outcast. Selectively, if you can manage that, but universally if you can't.
It helps that these folks operate on a lower standard of behaviour in how they treat others. It helps to understand they do these things to push down their own insecurities and to feed their ego. You can decide not to value the opinions of those who aren't worthy of judging you and you shouldn't try to appease them or put your energy into trying to control how they behave.
Put energy into learning how to properly not care.
Nasty little children mocking people different than them. Glad I'm out of school and when people are weird they only talk behind my back!
...well it's not better but it's different I guess.
I'm sorry for your hard time. Did you explicitly ask them what they meant by "you're not being bullied"? I see room for misinterpretation, like "yeah that was rude, but cut them some slack".
I've personally had many clashes with a friend feeling offended due to misinterpretations of what I have said, which make me tend to look at it from the other side. But I do not want to discount your feelings, you are valid โค๏ธ
Thanks. They flat-out mean because Iโm autistic, my brain looks at it different and Iโm being too sensitive, Iโve asked
I honestly think autistic people are either A) more likely to notice all facets of and attempts at bullying, or B) note paying any sttention to the bullies at all. Never is it a case of perceiving it worse than it actuslly is. Also, particularly cruel for a NT to tell an autistic person that, because they have no idea how badly bullied ND people are.
While I'm sure there was significant bullying, it is also the case that a lot of the time it is easy to read bullying into just regular ribbing and obtuse communication that people do to find out if they will get along with someone else. Like a lot of humor is based on misleading for the punchline to land and if someone takes that misdirection as being intentionally deceptive then it can come across as meanspirited when it was intended to be silly.
What tends to happen to autistic people I know is they take a joke literally and get mad, then the bullying starts because they want the same reaction as kids, and also a lot of adults, like to push buttons to get reactions. That is bullying even if the first interaction wasn't.
Your parents probably assume all the interactions are the first misreading while ignoring that taking jokes personally almost always leads to bullying afterwards.