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It Feels As If I Can Do Nothing To Please My Mom.

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Alexia

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No matter what I do, it feels I can't please my mom or make her proud. I told her about the sexual abuse in 2011 from my father and nothing has been the same since.

I was diagnosed with PTSD and later she was too. Increasingly over the past two years our relationship has spiralled downward. We used to be so close and she always tells me that everything she has ever done is to give me a better life.

Now more than ever, fights have gotten worse and things are being said thats like a stab in the heart. Because of the abuse my trust with parental authority figures isn't that great. But my mom was always able to set down consequences in a logical matter. But now its a huge mess.

Our relationship is on frayed edges and it feels as if every conversation we have is negative. I try my hardest not to let my anger grab a hold of me and there has only been two occasions where I've lost it and my anger was like a tornado ripping through the house. I didn't hit anyone, I didn't break anything, I didn't threaten to hurt anyone or myself.

Regardless, the first time I saw red, I got upset and ran to my room and sat and cried in the closet so I could calm down. The anger I felt was towards my mother and I felt she wasn't supporting me, she wasn't meeting me halfway, and she refused to listen to my needs as coming to family counseling.

She called the crisis team on me and I was escorted out of the house due to their judgment that I would harm myself. I remember sitting in the ambulance being carted away from my home to the hospital to be put on lock down. I wasn't suicidal and when the EMT's came and talked to me, I was sitting in my closet singing songs that I liked to listen to when there's storms. I was taken away from my home, my family, and my dog.

I was held in the hospital under lock and key for two days. Then on the day after Thanksgiving they took me to a mental hospital south of Atlanta. I arrived at three a.m. the day after Thanksgiving and they stripped serched me, took y things away from me and threw me in a room with noone else. I was expected to get up three hours later at six. The bed was uncomfortable, I didn't have enough blankets and they cut all the strings from my clothes and my sweats wouldn't stay up. I cried myself to sleep that night.

I was thoroughly scared from my three days at the mental hospital and I've never really recovered from it. My mother and I never really talked about it and I felt my trust was completely severed. My mom had come to me many times and told me she was suicidal and I had never called 911 on her.

The most recent time I was once again upset with my mother. For the exact same reasons as before. We had never really talked about her 10:13-ing me and she saying to me "remember the last time you got angry?" By this time, I was done with her and told her so and I can't remember what else but I knew it was hurtful. All my pent up hurt from her came out because my love for her couldn't contain it anymore. There has been many times that she has said that I was acting like my father ( who sexually abused me for five years).

Later that night, my mom came up and told me that she was to be respected in the house and I was not to raise my voice or cuss at her. My mother had never been the dictator in the house so this took me aback. She then told me that if I ever acted out again that I would be kicked out of the house.

I told my mom about the abuse, she was kicked out of her house when she was my age, struggled with mental and physical illness like I am. I feel as if I was wrong to trust her and I understand that this might be some teenage thing but to me it's so much more. I am not a bad child. I went to college early, I didn't develop a drug addiction, I'm not having sex with any boy I see, and I have a 3.85 GPA at school and I'm currently trying to find a job.

I feel as if nothing I do is good enough for my mom. I can't vent to my sister because she turns around and tells my mom. I starting out with a new counselor soon. I've even stayed in my room and only do the chores she asks me to, to minimize conflict in the house. I feel I've been totally cut off from my family. And that now I am the new monster in the house everyone fears. It breaks my heart. I feel like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. For the first few months everyone was supportive but now everyone expects me to be fine and get over it.
 
Hi Alexia,

I am sorry that your relationship with your mother is so bad, but I am afraid I don't really have any words of comfort. My own relationship with my mother has broken down since all the abuse came out. However I am not in your position. I don't live with her. She is hundreds of miles away so we just talk on the phone now and again - usually about the weather!

I spent my life thinking that nothing I did was good enough. It is so hard to feel like you are constantly struggling for approval. However therapy changed all that. I DO now feel much better about myself and can be pleased with my own achievements - however small. I don't need my mother to respond any more. It is harsh, but helpful.

You sound great. Well done for your school and college achievements. I hope you find the job you are seeking. You sound like a very strong and positive person who has flourished despite adversity. Be proud of yourself!

Best wishes,
Lucy x
 
I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with your mom.Although not actually hospitalized,I went through something similar after my ex disclosed my past abuse with her.Got the policed called on me,got kicked out,my mom told everyone,was homeless with my son,it turned into a whole disaster.Unfortunately my whole family sees me as the black sheep of the family now.

I wish I had some sort of advice to offer but so far it sounds like you're doing everything you can to keep things calm.You can't make her got to councelling so all you can do is try to stay out of her way and hope she reconsiders.If you're in a position to move out maybe consider that(from your post it gave the impression it isn't an option?),sometimes becoming completely independent will put you on a more equal ground with your mom and give you a better chance at repairing your relationship if that's what you want to do.

Have you thought on some activities to keep you out of the house? If lessons for something you're interested in is too expensive,maybe volunteer somewhere? ( you could always try to volunteer somewhere that has the field of career you're interested in,it'll look good on a resume aswell).

I'm sorry things are so hard for you now,and it wasn't right with everything that happened with the psychiatric stay
 
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