I feel betrayed by my own family

[MayItShine]

Hello. This is my first time on here, and I'm a little nervous sharing online but I'd like to reach out for support.

I'm about to turn 18. I have had pretty severe anxiety since age 14, and for the last year have had depression. I've been through a heck of a lot of issues with my mental health and paternal parent, but my older sister, older brother and mum have ALWAYS been there for me. They are my biggest support network. Recently I have had my mental health take a deep dive for the worse, and on the weekend my family told me that they were going to withdraw. So mum had been off work with me at home, to basically take care of me. But she said she was going to work. I understand that she has to work, and I'm not trying to sound selfish at all. But since then, she has stopped her support altogether. When she gets home and I try and tell her that I had a bad day and need a hug, she tells me about all the other things that she could be doing with her time. I have had many long talks with her about the way she makes me feel, and every time she says that she is listening to me, but makes an excuse. My sister and brother are the same.

I feel really betrayed by them, and as a result my health is literally rock bottom. I have no friends, and without there support I feel so lost.

I should probably mention that I have a private psychologist who is trying to help, but he's currently on holidays.

I guess I'm just really looking for some people to talk to who might understand how hard it is to talk about mental health.

[quirkywords]

Welcome MayItShine to the forum.

It can be quite scary writing your first post so well done for expressing your thoughts so well.

Being a teenager is difficult enough but you have severe anxiety and depression so makes it much harder for you.

It is great that you had support from your family and I can understand why you now feel so upset that you feel you have been abandoned by your family.

Caring for some one with mental health issues can be very exhausting and frustrating and I wonder if your family are tired . When you supposrtnsomeone with depression and anxiety you need to look after yourself so that you don’t get down yourself.

do they get any support? I understand why you may feel betrayed but as you wrote they have supported you for a long time and cared for you. can you talk to your psychologist about how you are feeling. I assume your parents are still supporting you so you can see the psychologist.

I can see that you would feel lost but your family I feel maybe just trying to work out how to keep supporting you.

there is an organisation called headspace that offer support for young people. They may have services that you could use.

You have done well talking about mental health. if you browse different threads here you may find some that may help you. there is also a young people’s section thatbhay have threads you may find interesting.

Feel free to post here as much as you need to.

Quirky

[MsPurple]

HI MayItShine and welcome to the BB forums

Sorry to hear you are going through a rough patch. I know first hand how difficult it can be. I as well have had lots of great family support which has helped my mental health as well.

It can be difficult to find a balance between too much support and not enough support. If they offer too much support, it causes one to reply too heavily on it and not become mentally strong in themselves. Not enough can make you feel isolated,and can make you crack. It is hard to find the right balance for you and your family. Your family are probably trying to back off to help you as they want to help you become more self resilient. But it can be a big adjustment to make. Maybe this is something you can discuss with your psychologist. Maybe ask if you could have a family meeting. I have had some family therapy which helped, because we all communicated openly, and we knew what support I needed and what I needed to do on my own.

I hope you and your family get in a good place soon where they offer you the right amount of support.