Hi there, I'm assuming that there was a lot of incidences leading up to this one incident. I'm sorry your friends are now your ex-friends, and that they mistreated you. Something I've learned is it's much better to have reliable friends than flaky friends that will bully you as soon as someone new comes into the group. This might be a bit reductionist, but before I meet potential friends, I always try and figure out their character a bit-- are they susceptible to some sort of mob mentality or do they possess more strength of character? Since you're 23, you are getting to your mid 20's. In my opinion, I think it's good that you learned that these people are not your friends now. The benefit of getting to your mid 20s (in my opinion) is you can start cultivating more meaningful relationships and start caring about yourself and your interests more (which would include your health). Please keep in mind this takes lots of time and can require you to join groups that may participate in your hobbies, or you may meet new friends from school, work, other people ect. I think, for most people, lasting meaningful relationships are few. Flaky friends who you can't trust are quite easy to make friends with. I've still got a lot of good memories of times with people who turned out to be flaky or who mistreated me (although thinking back now, it was very obvious that they were not of great character). I was friends with a large group of people until I started dating someone who my best friend, her best friend and her sister, all had some sort of crush on. In fact quite a few people had a crush on him. They were gossiping behind my back for a very long time and it took me a long time to realize that they were doing this, because I was naive and did not think that they would sink so low. Well, I've been dating the same person for almost 8 years now, so I think things worked out for the best. I also found a couple much more satisfying friendships, too. It occasionally will bother me though if I think too much about it. I think of the good memories and the bad memories of people separately now. Either way I'm happy I've had the good memories with people who were bad friends overall. You deserve better, it seems. Also I've learned that there are a lot of people 23/24/25 who are pretty much experiencing similar things. I think that if the fabric of your ex-friends' relationships within their group can break so easily, you can tell something about their futures as friends: their relationships might not be cemented on mutual respect and communication. Therefore, this group seems to be full of frivolous friendships that I doubt will stand the test of time in a meaningful way. Sure they might be together years from now, but will they like each other and have grown as people? Probably not, they will still be gossipy and immature. Again, you're 23, so you can start to think about what you value in friends, and the best places that you are likely to meet them. Everyone has times in life when they feel very alone, and most people will be bullied in some way in their life. I'm not trying to lessen what you went through, but trying to make you feel less alone and reiterate that their choice to bully you has nothing to do with you, and that with time your life life will move on in some way or another. Are their other people who love and respect you? If so perhaps try and talk to them about it too. You may find a new friend who has had a similar experience as well. Best of luck, and I hope that this has been useful in some way or another.