“No One Knows This About Me”: 40 People Reveal Their Darkest Secrets

On Instagram threads, @tell.the.secret has become a digital confession booth, and people can’t stop scrolling. The premise is simple: “Every story holds power. Share yours anonymously.” Followers send in their secrets that are funny, heartbreaking, or shocking, and the account posts them against dreamy, pastel backdrops. No names, no faces, just raw, unfiltered truths.

#1

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I left my husband the week our daughter was born. Everyone called me heartless.
But no one saw the bruises. Or how he threw things when I spoke. I left to save her. And myself.
Now we have peace. And pancakes on Sundays.

#2

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I helped my mom die. Cancer was eating her alive.
She begged me to stop the pain. One night, I gave her more morphine than usual.
She whispered “thank you” before falling asleep. I still hear it in my dreams.

#3

Image source: tell.the.secret, EyeEm

My parents passed away years ago. My wife and I bought a vintage rotary phone to display in our dining room. When my wife is away, sometimes I will dial my childhood home phone number and secretly hope my parents answer. Sometimes I’ll even talk and tell them about my life.

#4

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I’ve been taking care of my mother for five years now.
She thinks I’m her caregiver.
She has Alzheimer’s disease.
Every morning she tells me, “You’re so kind. My daughter would never take care of me like this.”
And every time, I just nod.
Then I go cry in the bathroom.

#5

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I laughed so hard I peed.
At my own joke.
Alone.
In a library.

#6

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The pill failed. Ten months after giving birth, I found out I was pregnant again. But I was exhausted—physically, mentally, emotionally.

So I had a medical abortion. No one knew but my husband. He held me when the cramps started, and he held me tighter when I started bleeding on the bathroom floor.

It’s technically illegal where I live. I could go to jail. Our family and friends would disown and condemn us—especially me. I would be painted as the sinful woman who k**led her unborn baby.

So we grieved in silence, for a child we’ll never get to meet and hold.

#7

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I sent a voice note of me screaming into the void…
To the wrong group chat.
My aunt replied, “Same.”
Now we’re closer than ever.

#8

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I gave up my dog when I became homeless. We lived in my car together for three weeks. I skipped meals to feed her.
When the shelter said no pets, I kissed her nose, gave her to a foster family, and cried for hours. They send me pictures sometimes. She’s okay.

#9

One day at work, something small made me cry.
I hid in the bathroom.
A coworker knocked, then slid a candy bar under the door.
He didn’t say anything.
And I’ve never forgotten how much that helped.

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#10

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I gave up my baby at 19. She had red hair. I held her once. Just once. Signed the papers with shaking hands.
Every year on her birthday, I bake a cake. Just in case. No one knows.

#11

My dog ate my w**d brownie.
I panicked and called the vet.
He said, “She’ll be fine. Maybe just a little… groovy.”
She stared at the wall for 6 hours.
Now she’s afraid of Bob Marley songs.

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#12

Every Monday, I wear the same sweater to work.
Nobody notices.
But it was my brother’s favorite.
He passed three years ago.
It still smells like him a little.
That’s enough.

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#13

I found an old voicemail from my sister.
Just her laughing and saying “Call me back, dummy.”
She passed away in 2018.
I still haven’t deleted it.

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#14

I never wanted kids. But every family dinner turns into an interrogation. “You’ll change your mind.” “Who’ll take care of you when you’re old?”
I’m not broken. I just want a quiet life with dogs, books, and spontaneous travel. And that should be enough.

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#15

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I called 911 because I thought I was having a heart attack.
Turns out I just had my first espresso.
They gave me water.
And judgment.

#16

I was the perfect daughter. Now I have no idea who I am. Straight A’s, clean room, polite smile.
I said “yes” to everything.
Now I’m 30 and can’t make a single decision without panicking. I’m trying to unlearn obedience. It’s harder than I thought.

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#17

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I was a sugar baby. He was twice my age. Paid my tuition. Never asked for anything physical. We talked. Had dinners. He gave me confidence and stability when I had nothing.
He also broke my heart when he moved to Paris and stopped answering my calls.

#18

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I’m a mom. I hate being a mom. I love my kid. But I miss silence. I miss sleeping in.
I miss not being touched all day. No one warns you that love can feel like drowning.

#19

My boss thinks I take afternoon walks for “mental wellness.”
I actually just go sit in my car, eat cookies, and watch cat videos until I feel like a person again.

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#20

I’m 27. My boyfriend is 63. We met at a bookstore. He recommended a poetry collection.
Now we live together. People stare, call me a gold digger. But he’s the only person who’s ever made me feel understood. Let them talk. He makes me tea every morning and remembers how I like my toast. That’s love.

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#21

I worked for a huge travel company in late 1990’s. My dreadful/lazy boss told me to proof read the company Brochure Booking Conditions (her job, not mine). I added a made-up section about dress code for our 1 million passengers a year. “Any passenger wearing a lilac track suit, carrying gold or silver bags, ugly sandals, garish jewelly or with an obvious curly perm will be denied access to the flight”. She didn’t check my work and 6000 holiday brochures went to print. Ha ha.

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#22

I’ve been in and out of children’s psych wards for the past four years, and I just want to say that the worst part isn’t the lack of privacy, bullying from other patients or the staff, or the shame you often get with the mark of “crazy bit*h that was hospitalised.” It’s losing the friends you make there.

You see, most of the patients there are the most amazing people in the whole world and are usually there for having a treatable illness or addiction (talking about things like self-harm, s**cide attempts, eating disorders, etc.). The best part about it is that you could relate to each other because you usually experience similar things—and they don’t judge you.

But it’s a dangerously unstable circle of people. And since you all are traumatised in some way, it
sometimes leads to death. Yours or theirs.
I just need to say that it is NOT—nor should it be—normal having kids commit s**cide, often before the age of 15, because being dead is less terrifying than the hell they live in. It is not normal that kids, even as young as 10, die in the name of anorexia because they just need to have at least this amount of control over their lives.

And it should not be normal that you only learn about their passing through Insta stories of their siblings or Facebook status updates from their parents.
All I have in my head is a list of names becoming longer each year, a few memories that fade away over time, and infinite regret that I haven’t done more.
This is the part of the mental health care system that isn’t usually talked about—but it is necessary, unless we want more kids dying.

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#23

I thought my cat went missing.
I cried, posted flyers, knocked on neighbors’ doors.
She was in the dryer.
Sleeping.
Judging me.

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#24

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I’m gay. My wife doesn’t know.
We have two kids. A dog. A mortgage. I love her in a way.
But not the way she deserves. Some nights I cry into her pillow when she’s asleep. I don’t know how to be free without destroying everything.

#25

My dog started sleeping by the front door after my son moved out.
He’s been gone a year.
I think the dog still hears his footsteps.
Sometimes I do, too.

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#26

I work in HR and once accidentally opened a complaint email about me.
It was accurate.
So I deleted it and started being nicer.
I don’t think they ever followed up.

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#27

I was 17 or 18 at the time. My dad had a scandal with another woman. One day, he brought that mistress to our house to meet my mom, no less. I’m Asian (Malaysian, to be exact), and it’s normal for the host to serve tea or coffee to the guest. I don’t think my parents knew that I already knew who that woman was.

So I made her a drink — using water from the toilet bowl. She sat there on our couch, all shameless, sipping it like nothing. And I just watched. I never told anyone. Not even my mom (she’s too soft for that kind of thing).

But I was so damn satisfied.

My dad didn’t end up continuing things with that woman. I told him straight: if he went through with it, I’d cut him off for good. No more father-daughter anything. He chose to keep what little was left of our relationship

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#28

My boss was stealing money from the company, and I found out — but I covered for her because we were really close. That lasted until she realized I couldn’t keep it up much longer… so she fired me. So I ratted on her.

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#29

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I loved my best friend. She was straight. I knew I couldn’t tell her. So I became her biggest cheerleader, watched her fall in love with someone else, held her when she cried.
And when she got married, I smiled in every photo. She never knew she broke my heart.

#30

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I faked a British accent in high school.
For 3 years.
Even the teachers believed me.
I transferred before graduation.
Still terrified someone will recognize me.

#31

I inherited everything. Didn’t share it.
My siblings think I’m selfish. But they never cared for her. I was the one who sat by her bed every night. I earned it. Still, some nights I stare at my bank account and feel nothing but guilt.

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#32

I’m a 60-ish-year-old man, and people think I’m very straight-laced and conservative. But I wear men’s thong underwear because they’re comfy and don’t chafe me. No one would guess. And honestly, I’m too old to care what people think about it.

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#33

Last year, my father passed away, and while I was handling the death certificate, I discovered he had a secret son—one he had put up for adoption. When I attempted to find him, I learned he had died in a truck collision on the very day my dad passed away in the hospital.

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#34

I’m a nanny for a rich family in the Hamptons.
They don’t know I sleep in my car because I can’t afford rent.
I take care of their kids like they’re my own, while mine lives two states away with my mom.
Sometimes I feel like I’m living someone else’s American dream.

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#35

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I texted “I love you” to my boss.
Meant it for my boyfriend.
No take-backs.
She replied, “Appreciate the support.”
We haven’t made eye contact since.

#36

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My ex-wife was a toxic narcissist who encouraged me to “find someone else” during arguments, so I did. I met someone who was a passionate lover who satisfied me in every way my wife never would. I wouldn’t say it caused my divorce, but it definitely got the wheels turning.

#37

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I accidentally called my boyfriend “dad.”
He said, “We need to talk.”
I pretended to faint.
It didn’t work.

#38

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I’m trans. My family still doesn’t know.
Ten years of living as myself. Ten years of lying to them.
I send Christmas cards signed with my deadname. I dread family Zoom calls.
Maybe one day I’ll show up as me. Maybe.

#40

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I shaved one leg, got distracted, and went to work.
Only one.
Skirt day.
It was windy.