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According to research by Dr. Michael Slepian, who is the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Associate Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia University, the average person keeps around 13 secrets at any given time.

However, that can be harmful in the long run, both to your physical and mental health.

So when one Reddit user asked others to anonymously share that one thing they can't tell anyone in real life, many revealed their heaviest burdens.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed When I was in high school a friend confided in me that they had problems with cutting. Showed me recent marks. We had a long talk.

I went to the counselor of the school and told them a couple days later. I was a teen. I struggled with the choice, but ultimately the fear of losing my friend won.

Long story short, they ended up in a mental facility for a month and came back, absolutely baffled as to who ratted him out. Decided it was probably a different friend.

Well. I married him. He still doesn’t know.

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    #2

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed I used to work in a shopping centre. One time as I was walking in to the building I sneezed and totally s**t myself, I was about 10 steps away from the shop so I had to think fast. I took a hard left turn and walked direct in to a department store. I only had $5 on me so I beelined for the underpants section and got the cheapest pair I could find. I then had to go to the centre toilets and sort everything out, it was a real mess. I text my boss and told them I was stuck in traffic but in reality I was 100 metres away trying to salvage any shred of dignity I could for the next 20 minutes. I'm happy to say the mission was a success and that day is now the benchmark by which all other days are measured. Every day since has been infinitely better.

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    #3

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed The real reason I was discharged from the army was because I was r*ped and wasn't able to tough it out. I always just tell my bros that I hurt my head or something.

    Throwaway910200287 , RDNE Stock project Report

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    alexia_1 avatar
    Alexia
    Alexia
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So sorry you went through this. Hope you went to therapy and you're ok now.

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    #4

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed One Christmas I was 9 years old and knew that Santa wasn't real but for my 7 year old brother the fantasy was very much alive and good. We shared a room and my brother woke up on Christmas morning and looked confused that Santa had not eaten the Kit Kat that had been left out. He went quiet and I could see that he was working the facts through in his head, when he wasn't looking I ate the Kit Kat and showed him the wrapper and claimed he imagined seeing the wrapper unopened.

    This was 26 years ago and I have not told him in case he works out Santa is not real.

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    #5

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed Sometimes I just want to be alone. I don’t want a partner, I don’t want pets or a family. I just want to travel and live my life and wander. Work as I go and be free.

    Edit: thank you for the awards you guys:) Wish I COULD have some extra energy, that would be nice.

    lulububudu , Timo Stern Report

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    #6

    About a week before I graduated highschool my family had a massive house fire. We lived out in the country, and no one was home so by the time anyone noticed it was on fire it was way too far gone. 30 ft flames above the roof. We lost everything, but had insurance and no one got hurt.

    Anyways, I was in a chemistry class at the time that around 70% of the grade centered around a lab notebook that was graded all at once at the end of the semester. You would do labs every week, and then do lab write ups in the notebook. I had been slacking off and was way behind on the assignment and would have had to pull a few all nighters just to turn something in.

    The day after the fire I went into class and told my teacher that the notebook had went up in the fire and that I had no idea how I would ever turn the assignment in. He was extremely nice about it, told me not to worry and gave me 100% on the whole assignment. Just said that I had bigger things to worry about and was about to graduate and that he hoped my family was doing ok.

    …….well the notebook was in my car the whole time. Threw that b***h away and swore myself to secrecy.

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    #7

    My mum doesn’t like that I’m on medication to control my anxiety. She claims that it’s bad for my health and that it will “cause more problems down the road”. Whenever she brings it up I just tell her that the doctor wanted me to take them, and that I didn’t just walk into the doctors and be like “I want to be on medication”.

    While that is true, it’s not the whole truth. I have a history of suffering from panic attacks that lead to self harm and s****dal tendencies. The reason I’m on medication is to help control them and give me less incentive to hurt myself. She doesn’t know, and I have no plans on telling anyone in my family. This is a secret I will take to my grave.

    For anyone who is worried: I’m okay, I have no plans on hurting myself, and I’m currently stable.

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    acey-ace16 avatar
    Ace
    Ace
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Your mom is an a$$hole. You should not have to feel ashamed and secretive about your illness.

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    #8

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed Probably 15 years ago my sister had a gerbil and one day I decided to bring it out of her cage and surprise her in the living room with it. Somehow I slipped on carpet and the gerbil went flying headfirst into the wall, it basically sounded like a threw a golfball at the wall and the gerbil wasn't moving. Naturally I put it back in its cage and removed myself from the vicinity. To my amazement the damn thing was still alive and moving around a few minutes later and lived another 2 years without anyone ever knowing that I basically kobe'd it into the wall at full speed.

    Techn028 , ennif pendahl Report

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    acsdp86 avatar
    Amy Smith
    Amy Smith
    Community Member
    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    One of my friends had a hamster that bit another friend while he was handling it - the hamster died a couple of days later, totally unexpectedly. To this day Pete insists that his toxic waste blood killed the poor little guy

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    #9

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed I really don’t like/care for anyone in my family.

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    Elle Gea
    Elle Gea
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yep just because yoire related down not mean you gey on get along or can be arsed to be around them.for longer than you can hold your patience for , I am also not a champion of the old blackmailing.harbinger of the institute.of.family.im.a.free spirit amd I dot appreciate people talkin bout me behind my back thinking they know whats best for me or thinking they have any right to anything in my life I much prefer less family interactions in all honesty myself.I get where op is coming from

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    #10

    Nice try, mom.

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    #11

    Around 10 years ago, when I was a teenager, my dad (who worked in the video game industry back then) got a gaming laptop (worth around 3k that time) as a gift he didn’t have a real use for, so he gave it to me as I used to play WoW back then. He was very adamant about telling me to NOT put liquids (i. e. drinks etc) on my desk next to it as I’m very clumsy. So one night, I made myself a huge a*s bowl of cornflakes, and put the bowl next to the laptop because I forgot my spoon in the kitchen. I sometimes put a blanket over myself when I was gaming and when I got up from the chair that night, I somehow managed to flip the bowl over with my blanket and the milk FLOODED the open laptop. I got incredibly scared, turned the laptop off and cleaned it like my life depended on it and went to bed. I obviously broke the laptop as I didn’t get it to turn on anymore, but I was too scared to tell my dad what happened (especially since he repeatedly told me to be careful) and told him how I didn’t have any idea what happened and how it worked perfectly fine on the night before. I still feel incredibly bad about it

    UPDATE - I told my dad. And although I can’t believe it, as so many of you said that he most likely knew - I got away with m*rder! He honestly didn’t know. He wasn’t angry at all, laughed it off and is really impressed with the amount of likes I got and how so many people are invested into this lmao! On a different note, I’m really happy I’ve told this story here as it ended up with me telling him and apologizing for my mistake. Feels really good!

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    jasonengman avatar
    Jason
    Jason
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Whenever a family member or my son has broken a gift I have given I haven't gotten upset. They learn their own lesson about not having the item. Would rather have my son be able to talk to me about things. I do throw in a I told you to be careful but that's it

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    #12

    I reported a close family friend bye cps, he didn't take care of his daughters, had no idea what they were doing, where or with who they are. He only cares about himself, party's and drinking. So I reported him and know cps are involved.

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    #13

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed When I was 4 years old I had hernia surgery.

    I wasn’t supposed to go downstairs during recovery, but I snuck downstairs to find my toy toolbox and brought it upstairs to play in bed.

    I have never told my parents.

    GuyWhoRedsDit , Polesie Toys Report

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    #14

    My mom left me to be homeless while still in high school to move out of state with an abusive (to me) new husband. When I finally got back in touch with them three years later, they gifted me one of his prized possessions, a car. It was kind of an olive branch? Problem was as a barely 20 year old with a minimum wage job living in DC, I couldn’t afford to plate it, inspect it, insurance gas or taxes on it- nothing. Still full of hatred for this man and therefore somewhat out of spite.. I sold it to a coworker friend whose big family desperately needed it for probably 10% of what it was worth. Told my step dad and mother that I got in an accident and it cost $400 to tow and my insurance only covered blah blah… it’s been 11 years.

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    #15

    I nearly committed perma de*th after I broke up with my ex, he truly made me believe that I would be worthless without him. Started packing up my flat to make things easier, then I met a silly robot programmer and life has been good since.

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    #16

    I used the other gender’s deodorant. I know it’s made for a woman, but it’s strong enough for a man!

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    luke-branwen avatar
    Luke Branwen
    Luke Branwen
    Community Member
    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Categorizing stuff into "Men's" and "Women's" is stupid anyway. Nothing wrong with a man smelling like Tranquil Rainforest and woman smelling like Ice-Cold Courage.

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    #17

    My dad was single and a couple of my friends moms was always bringing us food. My dad would say they were just being nice cause he was a single guy raising 3 kids by himself. My aunt picked me up from school sick and we head home. She must have known what was up and had me wait in the car. Both of my friends moms came out half dressed and s**t with my aunt yelling at my dad. I never did tell out of fear. 1 mom was divorced but 1 wasn't and I was afraid of tearing their family apart. Will take it to my grave.

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    BeesEelsAndPups
    BeesEelsAndPups
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't approve, but I am impressed. I am a single dad raising three kids. Sadly, I make my own dinners.

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    #18

    This is not that good, I spent most Saturdays with my grandma and we would watch the same vhs of moonstruck every week. I never told her how much I hated that movie(its a good movie but not when you're 8.). We would watch it and then after we would eat ice cream and put on SNL. Opera man era, I would give anything to watch moonstruck again with my grandma.

    Edit: thank you for sharing all these great memories. Its hard to look back and really get a sense of what was lost that long ago and to know that we are all reeling in the years. Hopefully some of us can be our grandparents to a new generation. Although Cher will never act again. I loved my grandma so much and 15 years later I just wish I could see her again. That I wish she could be the GREAT grandma now and just hand me a tissue so my eyes weren't watering, she always had a tissue in her pocket or sleeve. Grandma baller move.

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    jasonengman avatar
    Jason
    Jason
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What I would give to watch price is right or green acres with my mom again

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    #19

    Sometimes I just want to walk away. I love my Boyfriend, my parents and my friends, but sometimes its just to much for me, and I thinking about to pack my things and just leave forever.

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    #20

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed I dropped two burgers on the floor twice this past year and still ate them. Turns out, floor burgers are pretty good.

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    bayboughton avatar
    Bay Bo
    Bay Bo
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    5 second rule, unless if you have dogs, then it's a dog pile brawel

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    #21

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed I was on mushrooms, the *special kind,* when my mother k*lled herself. I spent the night surrounded by the police in the hospital and it has always really f****d me up. I thought about creating a throwaway to make this post but f**k it.

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    #22

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed When I was in elementary school, I once lost something so I asked to go to the lost and found. In the lost and found room, which was a big storage closet, they also stored the cokes for the pop machines. I took one. Then, probably 3-4 times a week, I’d “remember” I lost something else and go steal another coke. I don’t know how long I did this for, but I got a lot of free coke.

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    Jason
    Jason
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That is a whole lot of lost items. When I was a kid we were given a hard time for going to the bathroom once a day

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    #23

    I'm a gay man. While on the internet I met this older man and we clicked. Played games together, talked a lot, facetime, etc. I figured we were good friends until one day he mentioned the only reason he started talking to me was because I seemed gay. He was correct. So after a few dates, we ended up hooking up a few times. Then literally weeks later my parents invited me to an event to meet my distant family members, I didn't really want to go but my cousin convinced me it would be fun. I went there and knew practically no one, my grandfather has 11 sister and 2 brothers so there were many unfamiliar faces. Except for one. It was my internet friend. We pretended to be meeting for the first time. Obviously we kept quiet about it while trying to figure out how we were related. He's essentially my grandfathers, sisters, first son. Not only that but he's married with 3 kids. He told me he was single. After that awkward encounter we distanced ourselves from each other, although occasionally we do still play games together on steam. I had sex with my first cousin once removed, and a married man. It's my little secret, mainly because I doubt anyone wants to hear it.

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    #24

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed I cant believe I'm going to spill this, especially on the internet because I'm more embarrassed about the stupidity of 13 year old me than anything.

    When I was 13, a nefarious kid in the neighborhood was a shoplifter, and I had just started smoking. A new gas station just opened up, and back in the day (I'm showing my age here) they left cartons of cigarettes out in the open. Anyway, this kid would steal cartons. So I asked him to steal a carton for me. He said he would, but asked me what I would trade for it. He wanted my Gameboy, but I said I'd give him something better. One of my moms rings.

    So in I go, to my moms room, open her jewelry box and bust out a single diamond ring and give it to this a*****e and he gives me a carton of cigs.

    To this day, I keep telling myself it was costume jewelry to make myself feel better, but I honestly don't know.

    I'm sorry mom.

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    kgoraczka avatar
    Kkg
    Kkg
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Really dumb thing to do by a 13y old. But if your mom didn't make a huuge fuss about it, then it was probably fake.

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    #25

    As a kid, I grew up in a small country community of 3,000 people. ... I had a crush on a girl who was two years older than me all the way through high school, and when I was 16, I found out she was my half-sister as my dad had cheated on my mum.
    This only came out when she turned 18 and found out who her dad was, prior to that no one knew, and my dad and her mom had kept it a secret for 18 years. Completely f**ked with me for quite a while that I'd had a crush on my half sister for a number of years.

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    Luke Branwen
    Luke Branwen
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    At least they found out before they moved on to more advanced stuff, unlike the bisexual dad from the story above 😅

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    #26

    When I was in 6th grade our math teacher had a contest where teams of two could spend a week guessing how many jelly beans were in this large container and whatever team got the closest would win all the jelly beans. Kids would be up there trying to count individual jelly beans before class and walking around it all day sizing it up. Somehow the teacher let it slip that the amount was written on a piece of paper under the screw on lid of the container. So I concocted a plan, I told this kid Nate that I would split my share of jelly beans with him if he did the following: when we were walking down to lunch he had to tell the teacher he forgot his lunch box and run back to the classroom to get it, while he was there he would open the container and see what the number was, then he would fill out a form with me and my partners name on it, I told him it couldn’t be him because then the teacher would be suspicious of him being the one alone in the class room, I also told him not to put the exact number because thats fishy too it has to be off by just a few. Needless to say I won the jelly beans at the end of the week, when it came time to pay up with Nate I gave him one handful of jelly beans and that was it. He got really upset and said that wasn’t fair, I basically told him what are you going to do about it and ate 300 jelly beans over the course of the next 3 days. I promise I’m not as much of an a*****e as I sound like in 6th grade, just really like sugar. I’ve only ever told my wife this story and I feel like she doesn’t trust me anymore after hearing it.

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    #27

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed When i was in 4th grade , i put mustard in one of my friend's burger because he had told me that he hated mustard. turns out he was actually allergic. he didnt come to school or 3 days and i was scared that i k*lled him. to this date noone knows that i did it.

    edit: wow so many upvotes that's cool. i would like to say that don't worry we r still on pretty good terms.

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    Luke Branwen
    Luke Branwen
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    2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Even if he "just" hated mustard, it's still a d!ck move. It would ruin the burger for me.

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    #28

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed I cant remember how old I was. It was dial-up internet era. Im now 29. But we received a phone call. Im not sure if i was home alone or why I answered it. But a man called and explained to me that my dad had affair with his wife. I hanged up and never told anyone except my therapist like a year ago. It has not bothered me much tbh, but it was sweird experience lol.

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    #29

    Was walking my dog on a dirt road next my subdivision. This dirt road ran parallel to several backyards and had lots of trees on either side for concealment. For me it was an unofficial nature trail because it allowed me to get away from people.

    One morning I spotted two of my neighbors, who were married to other people, making out and obviously about to do the deed.

    Since they were so into each other they didn't hear me coming up till my dog started making noise. For several seconds we all looked at each other saying nothing until the couple took off running in the direction of their respective backyards.

    We all knew each other but I wasn't friends with the two nor their spouses. Long story short, I kept my mouth shut about what I saw and neither of the lovebirds ever said anything to me.

    Have no idea if this had been a one time thing or a long term affair.

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    #30

    30 Dark Secrets That Could Shatter Lives If Exposed When I was about 7 years old my dad took me to blockbuster and I really had to pee. Blockbuster didn’t have a restroom so I peed in one of the aisles. I’m pretty sure the cameras saw me but thankfully there was no one near me.

    Opti-Free31 , Sean Benesh Report

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