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How should I handle a friend who constantly puts me down?
How should I handle a friend who constantly puts me down?
Treat the remark as a behaviour, not as a joke you failed to enjoy. Name it once in the moment. If it continues, reduce the access, not just the smile.
What may actually be happening
Some teasing checks whether you will defend a line. Some of it is habit from a group that rewards a target. You can like someone and still refuse the role.
Look at it from both sides
They may say they are being honest or funny. You are allowed to decide that the honesty is selective and the joke has one direction.
What you can do
Reply to the content, briefly. 'That was a put-down. Don't do that with me.' If they mock the request, you have your answer. See them with other people present, or less often, while you watch whether the behaviour was the friendship.
What not to do
Do not laugh and then send a long message at 1 a.m. Do not recruit the group to vote on your sensitivity. Do not insult them back and call it balance.
Try this today
The next small dig gets one sentence, said evenly. Then change the subject or leave. You are collecting information, not winning a scene.