I love this question and the vulnerability/self awareness required in asking it. Props to you for bringing up something that is likely hard to talk about. 1. H

I love this question and the vulnerability/self awareness required in asking it. Props to you for bringing up something that is likely hard to talk about. 1. Have you tried talking to your friends about how it makes you feel? I get that that's vulnerable and might even feel embarrassing to bring up, but if they're really good friends of yours, they'll care about your feelings AND will be thankful for your honesty. Even if it feels awkward in the moment of or they're uncertain how to behave shortly thereafter. It can be as simple as "I'm excited for your success and don't want to make you feel bad about it, but sometimes the details of how much STUFF you have really bring home insecurities about how much I don't have. It's enough to know you sold your house because the value went up without being reminded just quite how much it appreciated." Letting them know how it can feel and asking them to be more aware doesn't mean you're a bad friend. It gives them the opportunity to gain some awareness of how their words impact others. As folks get wealthier it becomes easy to lose that awareness, and you bringing it up gives them the chance to reset some of their behaviors that are likely impacting other relationships as well. To put it in a different context, if things are going really well in my marriage I probably won't dwell too much on that when talking with a friend who recently got divorced. I know they want good things for me, but I also understand that it could bring up painful comparisons or memories for them. Instead I can mention that things are going well without going into detail. 2. You mention that you "feel smashed with depression". Have you considered speaking to a therapist about your feeling or just mental health overall? I realize this is difficult when money is tight, but I also know that a fair number of therapists accept a sliding payment scale based on income. Feeling bummed out because of comparison is pretty common and normal, especially in a culture like ours, so it may not be anything more than that. But if comparison is causing you a lot of negative feelings, it may be that deep down you've conflated happiness with financial success or security. Therapists are good at helping to identify the faulty associations we don't even realize we're making, and then seeing how to unwind those associations in ways that aren't obvious to ourselves or friends/partners we talk to. In answer to your question about whether I have money or don't -- I work as a software engineer in the US so I'm certainly fortunate, but I'm in a big city so I have no plans to add a pool to my rented studio apartment any time soon.