We all have our secrets.
Some secrets we might keep from others, but share with our closest friends and family, such as a crush, a closet fondness for a boyband or film franchise, or one's dislike of someone's style of cooking.
But then there are slightly deeper and darker secrets.
Things about ourselves or things we might have done that we can't even bring ourselves to share with those closest to us.
Be it out of fear, embarrassment, or even shame.
Redditor MadeOfRocky was curious to hear people's secrets so dark that they would only share it anonymously, leading them to ask:
"What deep secret you don't mind telling to internet stranger but not your family/friend?"
Wanting A Different Life
"I wish my entire life was different other than having my wife.'
"I hate everything about my life and myself."
"My wife is the only reason I keep going."- wayneo88
Being Alone
"I'm perpetually afraid I'll end up alone."
"I have a great family and a good group of friends."
"But I wake up everyday thinking it's me against the world."- whosgonnacheckmeboo
Having A Drinking Problem
"I am an alcoholic."- Mammoth-Amoeba5081
Just Wanting To Be Loved
"I just need a hug so bad."- AnEvilSeal
Mom Issues
"I hate my mom."
"I love her but I also cannot stand her 98% of the time."
"It’s hard to tell if it’s her or me."
"It makes me feel like I'm a f*cking prick though as I’m sure you could imagine."
"Even tho she may be truthfully a little insane and over the top and relentless and sometimes she’s straight up a b*tch."
"She’s my mom."
"And I miss how she was when I was younger."
"Sometimes it’s like I don’t even know her anymore."- Constant-Rooster-361
"I love my mum, but I've also resented her to varying degrees since I was 11."
"She had me bringing my younger siblings on a two hour trip home every school day, making their lunches helping with their homework, getting them ready for school and doing whatever chess they had neglected on top of my own and stay awake till 12am so I could watch the dogs till she came home and if I asked for any sort of break she would say family required sacrifice."
"Then when I was 18 she began charging me half of what I made despite letting my older sister stay for free, and coerced me into not going to the school I was accepted into, cancel my lease which requires me to pay rent for three months since it was rented till January because she didn't want to take the night shift at her job."
"I'm now even worse of financially than before and apparently responsible for my sister's horses that my mum bought with the money she had offered to use to help pay my deposit."
"I also once broke my wrist and she refused to take me to a doctor for two days because I was being 'too dramatic' and was apparently crying too much, then she never took me to the checkup to ensure it had healed correctly cause she had decided to take the cast off early and had didn't want to be told off by the doctor and I was 'fine'."
"I mean who cares my wrist still felt too stiff and randomly began hurting like hell and it took me a year to be able to fill a single page in one go."
"This turned into sort of a rant."- APettyB*tch
Past Regrets
"I would have never joined the navy and wished I had never met my ex wife."- BarooTangClan
Art Imitating Life
"During a low point in my life, I started writing an erotic fiction novel online."
'For characters, I literally just used people from my life, girls I’ve had crushes on, etc."
"Their names, just first names, personalities, and descriptions are exactly the same as their real-life counterparts.'
"I did it because I was too lazy to create my own character names, and I didn’t think anyone would read it."
"Thousands of people have read it."
"I’d delete it, but I can’t remember my password to get the story taken down, so… yeah."
'Nothing I can do about it now."
"At least it wasn’t a self-insert."
"Then it’d be easier to trace it back to me."- LesbianSiren
One Sided Friendships
"A secret because I don't feel like I can tell anyone but more of an off my chest."
"I feel like I put so much effort into my friendships but many people give so little back."
"I'm forgotten, I get cancelled on all the time by one friend, another friend practically abandons me every time he dates someone."
"I constantly feel like I'm alone with no one looking out for me."
"I keep wondering if it's me but I can't think of what I could've done."
"It sucks."- timeofexecution
Non-Existant Self-Esteem
"I am not a fan of the person I see in the mirror."
"My entire life I've been called obese, fat, and various other negative and derogatory terms."
"I know I'm not fat, but I can't stop seeing every flaw, every scar, and every non socially acceptable feature when I look in the mirror."
"I know I am neurodivergent, I know I am different from most people."
"I want to like who I am."
"I have been through hell and I have survived, but all I hear in my head, and all I see in the mirror is all of the things, the words, the teasings that I have heard my whole life."
"I am going to a counselor to help boost my confidence, and I pretend that she's helping."
"The fact is, I feel completely unlovable and broken."- HopeTink
Secret Career Path
"I dropped out of college."
"I lived out of my car after this happened and did Lyft until I got into an accident and my car got totaled."
"I ended up being a valet driver and cleaned cars for an Audi dealership while trying to get some engineering related job."
"All this time I lied to my friends and family that I was working at a great engineering company and just using all my money to pay off my tuition in full while saying I was living at a friend's house."
"One of my biggest regrets is having a rider from Lockheed and Martin who offered me a job while I was driving him for Lyft, but he also thought I was still a student."
"I thought I had no shot but I still wish I took the risk."
" Funny enough I was still somehow able to con my way into being a designer/drafter as I did, and enjoyed, design in college."
"I sucked."
"My first year they basically said you suck and moved me to the shop floor as a supervisor."
"After that I job hopped all the way to a position now as a mechanical designer at a fortune 500 company making almost six figures without a degree."
"I worked hard at my craft to get good at it."
"To this day my wife, my friends, and my family do not know I did not complete my degree and think I'm an engineer."
"I figure at this point who f*cking cares anymore since I make a decent living."
"All things considered, I'm not discounting the fact that I am extremely lucky and fortunate."
"Things could have turned out much differently."
"I just dunno when I can tell everyone the truth or even if I have too."
"There's a sort of peace everyone has that I just wanna leave alone."
"As an Asian American I know it would devastate my parents."
"But at the end of the day I'm proud of myself and that's all that really matters."- CrashingSky
Crippling Self-Hatred
"I really really hate myself."
"No, I'm not guilt-tripping or just being really disheartened."
"I genuinely hate the person I am now and I don't know how to change myself."
"Every time I did something wrong I would often just defend myself in many ways possible and sometimes cry over it."
"I get angry so easily."
"I want to improve myself but I don't know how."- lynastix
Unrequited Love
"My step cousin and I made out and fell in love."
"I still love her but she’s in a different country so it’s hard."- Popular-You-3594
Not Appreciating Your Friends
"I took for granted the only closest friend I have."
"He had cancer and died."
"I'm lonely and missing him a lot."
"So much remorse and regret."
"I loved him."- gk296772
Chronic Unhappiness
"The fact that i will never be happy."
"Idk why."
"I have a good life good women amazing kid good job the whole 9 yards."
"But I'm miserable and honestly don't see that changing till I'm gone."- Efficient_Beat_4904
Everyone deserves a right to privacy.
But even though you might feel like no one understands, there is always someone out there who is willing to listen, and who will help you.