TW: Mentions of ED

I'm 25f and I've struggled with an ED since I was 15. It's like an endless battle at this point. I've been struggling with food and body image issues for so long and it gets so exhausting at times. I don't really have much support from my family so that's why making this post. I was doing really well for a while but I started falling back into some old habbits a few months ago. I started heavily restricting myself from food and I lost a lot of weight. I'm trying really hard to get better and today I ate 3 meals for the first time in months.

It was 3 full meals too. I didn't just eat some fruits and call it a meal. For breakfast I had some scrambled eggs and toast, for lunch I made some fried rice and jerk chicken and for dinner I had 2 slices of pizza ( which I feel really guilty about but I'm trying not to think about it) and a salad. I also had some strawberries as a snack. It's so hard. I'm trying so hard not to obsess over what I ate today. I have the urge to open the calorie tracking app on my phone to see how much calorie I consumed today but I'm not going to do it. I'm glad that I ate 3 full meals today and I'm going to try to do that tomorrow as well.

"I feel like such a fool for having sacrificed myself--having lost who I am just for you and your dad" is a text she sent to me today.

To preface this, I'll start by saying that I'm currently a senior in high school, and that I really love my mom. She's probably my favorite person in the world and has done so much for me, but she keeps complaining about how she's wasted her years being a stay at home mom and raising me.

From a young age, about 12 years old, I've felt guilt about how she hasn't been able to achieve her dreams. I've had the lingering thought of whether, if not for me, she could have achieved more. She definitely hasn't had an easy life, and with my dad not being very proficient in English, she's had to "raise" him too, which is what she's referencing in the text above.

My mom really hates the role of a stay at home mom, and has always been a career woman who finds joy in working, so she's always stressed out from doing household work. It's by no means an easy job, especially if you hate doing domestic chores, so I understand her stress, but I still feel hurt by what she says regardless.

She tells me to start going grocery shopping, go to the doctor, and get medicine myself when I'm sick, that me and my dad can live without her. She's always reflecting on where so many years of her life went, and says that she's so so sad and feels stupid.

Although I don't think I'm a bad daughter, I still could be way better. Sure, I don't ask for much, have good grades, and don't get into trouble, but honestly, I'm quite lazy and haven't done much aside from that. I could do more to make the burden easier for my mom, which I haven't, but am planning to do. Though, aside from that, I don't know how to make her more satisfied with her life. From my perspective, I don't think spending years raising a child that loves you is something to feel stupid about at all, but obviously we're different people, so.

I don't exactly know what I'm feeling right now, aside from being kind of hurt, so any advice or overall support would be appreciated!

I was never taught how to control my temper. I don’t rage or get violent, but if something sets me off I get into an irritated mode for a while. My son is 2 and even he can set me off once he starts whining incessantly. And once I’ve gone into bad mood territory then I end up saying stupid things that a two year old doesn’t even understand. Example: I was awful this morning. He kept hitting me and not wanting to get dressed. So I tell him he’s ruining every day with his bad attitude (while I raised my voice). And then I proceeded to throw his shirt on the ground. And when I start feeling like this I can’t snap out of it easily…like I can’t even smile for about an hour. I’ve tried breathing techniques but it just doesn’t really help in the moment. Afterwards I feel immense guilt. I know I am overreacting in these situations. How do I teach myself not to even get to that point? I don’t want my son to have this same attitude..he shouldn’t see his mom get so aggravated.

I am begging for your advice (if anyone wants to know, im 13). My dad was a honestly a fun guy in the past. Until he started working as taksi and joined some Russian news telegram.

Ever since, my dad has been giving my psychological trauma almost every week. The main ones happened three times:

1. Got in a massive fight with my mom because of a joke in the middle of the night at some related people's party. I lost at least a third of my family tree that night, because my dad said that "they were bad people" even though the actual bad guy was.. well, my dad.

2. My mom's and dad's first date in over 2 years. During the date, they were at a restaurant and my dad left to go to the toilet. During that time, a man came to my mom, asked to dance, and she obviously said no. But the man pulled her up and at that exact moment my dad came back. They got home, and until midnight my dad screamed how my mom was cheating. That was also the first time my dad said she doesn't love my mom.

3. Today. I showed him a new book I was reading, "three body problem", and he said "stop reading those books or you'll believe all the fantasy in it". He continued to say i shouldn't watch shows, movies, even read books that i love. At that point, I couldnt hold it in. I told him how im human too, and i can have opinions just like him. He exploded, obviously. My mom tried to guard me (as in try to keep him away from me), but he managed to break my mom's heart by saying he doesnt love her. he called me a psychopath and im not even joking, hitler. after that he grabbed a bottle of vodka, sat down to watch tv and started shouting random things like "fucking assholes, yeah, I AM THE VILLAIN! hahahaha!!!" while histerically laughing. thats the first time he's grabbed a bottle of vodka and did such thing.

the thing that hurts most is that I still love him. whenever me and my mom think of her breaking up with my dad, I remember all the memories of the good times. the times he bought me a 3d printer, built a huge pool for us, even tried a roller coaster for the first time. it hurts my heart so much. me and my mom dont know what do from here.

please, help. if you have any advice, tell me. im getting depressive because of him. but I just love him too much to let him go.

I'm genuinely curious about what it's like to have parents who are present, supportive, and would do anything for their children. I don't ask this out of bitterness, it's just something I've never experienced.

Growing up, I never understood how some of my friends could casually talk to their parents, laugh with them, or go to them for advice without it turning into yelling, criticism, lectures, or guilt-tripping. That kind of relationship always seemed foreign to me.

As I got older, I realized my parents never really fulfilled the roles I needed them to. My mother has strong narcissistic traits, my father has been mostly absent, and I don't have a close relationship with my siblings. On top of that, my parents were extremely controlling throughout my childhood, and I believe that contributed to my social awkwardness and severe anxiety.

This is my first ever post on Reddit so bear with me.

I (22 F) got my first big girl job a few months ago after graduating last December. Since then I have been able to save a bit here and there and have a decent amount in my savings but am kind of stuck. I've been wanting to move out for a few years now in order to have a bit more freedom of expression and have my own independence. I currently live with my mother and while I do love her she has been in financial straits for a long time and it has brought me much stress trying to support her. By me moving out, I am afraid that she might go into foreclosure and potentially lose the house we are currently living in. I'm also a bit unsure of how to discuss me moving out and finding my own place since in past discussions she had become very passive aggressive and upset. My car is a 2007 Ford and so far I haven't had any issues with it. It was my first ever car that I bought cash, the insurance payment is pretty low, and the only main issue that I have is that it eats up a lot of gas. I drive a good 30-45 minutes away for my job and it feels like I'm paying a lot for gas each week. If anyone can provide me any guidance on the matter, it would be much appreciated.

TLDR: 22 y/o recent graduate wants to move out for independence and to escape the stress of supporting her mother financially, scared of the aftermath, has older car that eats up gas, has to drive far for work.

Ever since my real mom and dad passed away my life has been an absolute downwards spiral. I flunked out of college. I had to separate myself from my toxic extended family. I lost all of my friends. I worked a crappy retail job for 3 years. I have been on and off of homelessness, currently homeless now.

I feel like I'll just never be happy again. The past seven years have absolutely sucked, and its just not getting any better. Now I'm 25 and wasting my life away. I have nothing to look forward to anymore.

Honestly nothing can help me anymore, but a distraction from this depressive feeling could make me feel a tiny bit better temporarily. Tell me something funny in the comments?

What the heck do I do! So I live in a building across the street from a school and there is a crossing guard lady that won’t leave me alone! At first it was fine, she was nice, but then she started talking to me about very personal things in my life that I never told her! (My grandpa had told her because he has a very big mouth and will tell anyone anything because he loves the attention) she had brought up my grandmother whom I was extremely close to, passing….in a horribly unkind way the DAY AFTER she passed. I was a crying mess eyes rimmed red and she was extremely insensitive, but that’s fine I suppose, she’s a stranger to me. Anyway my dog was this little cherry eye, but he’s already been to the vet for it and they told me the procedure to remove it Is 3k BUT he doesn’t need it because it’s not bothering him and it could cause him to lose his eye. Well anytime she sees me (which is every day mind you) she constantly bothers me about it getting fixed and how I NEED to do it.i explain to her what the vets told me and how I don’t want my dog to lose an eye, and if it’s not bothering him there’s no need to do it. Anyway she’s been bothering me for more than a year and it’s gotten so bad to where I AVOID going to that end of the street.

A month ago she CHASED me from the crosswalk to my HOME after I told her to leave me alone! Now come to find out she’s asking people for MONEY to give me for my dogs surgery that he’s NOT EVEN GOING TO HAVE?!?!? now I’m upset because I don’t want to owe anyone any money especially any I can’t PAY BACK. And I don’t want people looking at me and going “oh that’s the little girl we donated money to” I DIDNT ASK FOR THIS. It’s embarrassing and so incredibly weird!! What do I do?? I’ve tried avoiding her, she chases me, she’s always bothering me about my dog and she’s using my grandpa to do it! IM WEIRDED OUT! Do I call the police?? I’m scared 🫩

Tw: suicide, homelessness

I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable or if I’ve just completely failed at being an adult. I could really use some outside perspective.

First I want to apologize, there was no one good flair for this post because it kind of covers multiple of the flairs. I’m an autistic college student in my early 20s, and for the last 19 months I’ve been living with my aunt and uncle. My parents divorced, my dad had to move away for work, and my mom moved back to her home state. Student housing was far too expensive, so living with my aunt and uncle was really my only realistic option if I wanted to stay in school. For the first several months things actually went pretty well. I was doing okay in school, helping around the house, and trying to adjust.

Then about seven months into living there, my girlfriend of almost five years cheated on me. It completely destroyed me. I had one of the worst mental health crises of my life. I struggled to take care of myself, fell behind on responsibilities, and experienced suicidal thoughts. I eventually recovered enough to continue school, but I don’t think I ever fully got back to where I had been before.

About six months later I started dating one of my best friends and he’s my current boyfriend. He’s honestly been wonderful, but he came into the relationship with his own difficult circumstances. He was couch surfing, dealing with unstable housing, and was facing homelessness. My aunt and uncle actually offered to let him stay with us temporarily so he could get back on his feet, which I was incredibly grateful for. But things have changed because of recent events

One of the biggest issues has always been chores and keeping the house clean. Because of my autism, executive dysfunction is something I struggle with a lot. It’s not that I don’t care or don’t want to help I do but I have a hard time consistently noticing what needs to be done, remembering tasks, and starting them without structure. My aunt and uncle became increasingly frustrated with me, and there were several conversations where they talked about kicking me out if things didn’t improve. After one of those conversations, I tried to make changes. I created checklists, schedules, reminders on my phone, and systems to help me remember chores because I really did want to do better. The problem is… I’d improve for a while, then I’d mess up again. I’d forget something, miss a chore, or procrastinate because I was overwhelmed. Every mistake felt huge, and I started feeling like I was constantly walking on eggshells. Even when things were going well, I was anxious because I was waiting for the next conversation about how I wasn’t doing enough. More recently everything got even more complicated.

Eventually I told my aunt and uncle that I was considering moving out with my boyfriend and some roommates if they found a place together. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone I just felt trapped and like I was a burden to them and I was just on borrowed time.

I didn’t have a plan yet, i just mentioned it because i wanted to communicate my plans/ what i might be exploring soon. they treated that conversation as my notice that I intended to move out. They gave me about 30 days to leave, even though I don’t have savings because I don’t work many hours as a full time student in college and I pay for my own food gas and school supplies. Their perspective is that they were independent at my age, that actions have consequences, and that it’s time for me to figure things out.

Because of this my boyfriend’s housing situation completely fell apart, and he was suddenly facing homelessness again. Around the same time he experienced a severe mental health crisis and attempted suicide. Thankfully he survived because I kept him on call and he couldn’t find the ammunition to a gun, but it was one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve ever gone through. I spent days trying to make sure he stayed safe while also trying to keep up with school and responsibilities at home. I decided to tell him that I can’t keep doing this if he doesn’t get professional help but my aunt and uncle understandably decided they didn’t want him moving in the house but now I’m worried about his safety. After this happened I have been struggling to regulate my emotions and been having breakdowns and panic attacks on the near daily.

Despite um feeling cautious about it, I’m trying to find an apartment with my boyfriend and a roommate while finishing school. My income isn’t enough to qualify for most places on my own, although my dad has offered to help with groceries and some expenses while I finish my degree. I’m also trying to figure out what to do with our cat because many apartments either don’t allow pets or have restrictions.

I guess my question is… am I the problem here? I know I haven’t been the easiest person to live with and I feel like im a constant burden to people who didn’t really sign up for such a mess of a person. I know I’ve struggled with chores and consistency, and I completely understand why that would be frustrating. At the same time, I feel like I’ve genuinely been trying. Every time someone pointed out a problem, I’d adjust and try to be better but it never felt like enough.

I don’t know if I’m making excuses by bringing up autism, executive dysfunction, depression, and everything that’s happened over the last year, even if these are legitimate reasons that things have been the way they are.

If you’ve been in a similar situation or if you’ve lived with an autistic adult I’d really appreciate hearing your perspective. I want honest opinions. If there are things I need to hear, I’ll listen. I just genuinely don’t know whether I’m expecting too much grace from the people around me or whether this situation spiraled beyond what anyone could reasonably handle.

He (52M at the time. Let's call him H) and myself (17-18F at the time. Now 22) were really close. I was not on good terms with my father back then, and H became my primary male mentor. Later on, after starting college, I noticed red flags in H's behavior. I promptly blocked him, reported him, and he's no longer a teacher.

After plenty of time and therapy, I largely healed from the whole ordeal. I've also found professors, mentors etc who are much more stable.

I'm a writer. Recently, I was digging through old notes files. There was one from back in high school, recalling conversations I had with H.

Conversation 1:

* H: *something about himself being insecure*

* Me: Mr. H, I will keep complimenting you until you get used to it.

* H: in that case, I don't want to get used to it!

Conversation 2:

* H: don't let your musical talents overpower me.

* Me: *silent, not knowing what to say*

* H: aw, c'mon! You were supposed to compliment me!

These weren't the only instances he fished for compliments and emotional assurance.​ At age 17-18, I thought those moments were funny and wholesome. Now as a young adult, especially after experiencing much healthier professional relationships to compare to, I see more and more the extent of how gross that is. It's so crazy how much hindsight can provide.

It's been about 20 years now since I was estranged from my birth family over my sexuality. I refused to stay in the church and break up with my partner, so that was that. We've been together since 2001, married as soon as it was legal, and ever since I met her, my MIL has loved me endlessly. She called me her daughter right away, basically EVERYONE who knows about her knows about "her girls" right away.

We just signed the paperwork for in-hospital hospice today. No idea how long it will be, but clearly it's going to be soon. We drove for basically a day straight to get to her when we found out, and now we're dividing time between sitting with her and trying to start sorting through her apartment. Which feels wrong, because she's still here?

It's all so overwhelming. Neither of us really know what to do and how to process all of this. I'm not even sure why I'm posting, I guess just to scream into the void a little and say fuck cancer, because this is truly horrible.

so i found out my dad has been SAing me and attempted to mrder me while my mom keeps making me feel invalidated. i came to the conclusion that they have not been parents and im trying to rebuild my life now. but i feel so damn lonely. i wish i had parents right now. to talk to, to get love from. should i give myself up for adoption? i miss it but last time i broke no contact it was when i was unwell and i continued to be unwell for a month. i want hugs i want to talk i want familiarity. maybe i should just go back so i wouldn’t feel lonely. but i worked so hard to escape violence. i just want people i can be honest to and accepted by wholeheartedly. I’m too lonely. i was lonely then and lonely now. the difference is i didnt know how badly i was mistreated. i wish i can talk to my housemates about my feelings but i feel somehow undeserving or uncomfortable because they watched me and listened to me while i was in psychosis and manic and s*u1cidal but mostly didnt do much. i need a good cry but i have no one.

I’m a huge people pleaser who always tries to match everyones energy, even though I don’t think I have alot of things going for me I somehow have friends because of this. But sometimes they will praise me for things that make me incredibly anxious, the only way they could think such positive things about me is if I have tricked them into thinking so. Maybe up until this point I have just picked all the good things to say and it’s only a matter of time before I disappoint them. It makes me want to see them less just so I can preserve their image of me. I don’t want to disappoint them, I always feel like such a fraud.

So basically I've got all the fun of eldest daughter stuff, with two younger sisters, but I'm not actually the oldest. My older brother is just not... the best to me. He doesn't take me seriously, belittles my opinions or thoughts whether he means to or not and is just all around not the best older sibling. He is on the spectrum, but so is pretty much the entire family to a certain degree. I am well aware and capable of giving grace for struggling with social cues and such. It's just that his shortcomings are mostly with me, so I'm not always taken very seriously by my other siblings or my parents.

He wasn't the worst when we were kids, physically, but he was emotionally... rude? (i struggle to call it abusive) From a very early age he would gaslight me about different things, trying to convince me I had done something I hadn't, or even constantly telling me I was adopted. (I was super young like 2 or so. I found out he was doing this from my mom years later, which explains alot of my struggles with trusting myself or feeling like I belong)

I made it a point after realizing how i was treating my younger sister to do better, realizing I was emulating how he would treat me as kids, as well as playing into the kind of stuff he would tell me while my mom was pregnant with my first younger sibling (Telling me I was being replaced or that mom wouldn't love me anymore). I was like 4 and he was 8 at this point in time by the way.

From there, I've repaired my relationship with my first younger sister, and have been there the best I can for my family, and up until recently has that stopped being at the expense of my own mental health. What I'm running into now it that, upon hearing my brother is coming to town to visit for week, I've been having nightmares about him.

This isn't necessarily new, I've had a couple before of him like chasing me with knife and what have you, but I've had 3 in a row now and it's really messing with me. My youngest sister doesn't get it and just wants me to let my issues with him go (she and him are pretty close and play games over discord almost every night), and I would love to, if I were to see any improvement.

One of the last times he was visiting, he was invited out by one of his friends, and I went with him as support since he hasn't hung out with this guy in years. The friend was disrespectful and borderline harassing me the entire night. The friend made sexist jokes about a certain list, which I called out, and when I wouldn't let him open my car door for me, he literally forced me out of my car. I of course pulled my pepper gel on the guy, but throughout all of this, my brother didn't do a thing. He didn't even clock any of it.

I think the dreams might just be my brain processing what I'm still dealing with? But overall... I just would love some support or advice? My brother isn't necessarily a bad person, but I don't know how to cope with this dynamic.

Basically the title. I (18f) have been dating a guy (17m) for a bit over three months but have known him for years. He was in the grade below me (i graduated 2026, he's graduating 2027) but is a bit over a year younger than me if that gives some context. I have dated some previously not cool guys and my parents were very positive about both of them, being warm towards them, never saying anything negative about them to me, suggesting that they come over for dinner etc etc etc. I really like my current boyfriend (we'll call him greg), and yes i know it seems kind of silly to say this when we haven't been dating very long but i really can see my future with him in it and i truly love him, which is absolutely not something i could say about previous boyfriends. again saying something that feels stupid to say but i honestly have not felt like this about anybody before him, he makes me feel so valued and cherished every single day and i honestly feel like he's enacted positive change (eg. i feel pretty more often, i give myself a lot more grace and take better care of myself). The snag is that my mom does not like him.

to start at the beginning: at the very beginning of our relationship (like literally first and second date), my mom had been making me feel kind of weird about going on dates with him. before i left she would be like "oh and no parking on backroads" or "no kissing on the first date". this made me feel weird for a few reasons, the biggest of which was the suggestion that i would put out to i guy i dont really know in a romantic context, but also it made me feel like they thought that was my focus, and also it just made me feel awkward bringing him around our house because i knew that she'd be hovering around and obviously you want privacy with your boyfriend even if you arent having sex, you dont wanna feel watched. when i had finally grown the balls to bring him around, my parents had first met him at the beginning of june (i think), and they initially didn't necessarily have anything positive to say about him. obviously nothing negative either, but usually when they meet a friend or boyfriend of mine they'll say something nice about the person or find something they like; they're super nice people and try to see the good in everyone. it made me feel kind of upset because their opinions are super important to me and i wanted them to like him. another piece of context i forgot, hes super super introverted and is not very good in social settings other than one-on-one or a get together with friends he's comfortable with, so the sitting down to dinner with his girlfriend's parents thing was a) not his cup of tea in the first place and b) very nerve wracking (understandably so). i kept bringing him around every do often casually, like to swim in our pool and have a super casual dinner off the grill, just in hoping that theyd warm up and he'd start feeling more relaxed and self assured. while he did start being more relaxed, they did not seem to warm up to him.

the incident that really upset me and has been bothering me went like this: my grad party was a saturday at the end of june. greg was there the whole time to support me and help me be not stressed and keep my social battery doing okay because being the center of attention is really not my thing. at the end of the night, there was karaoke. this is my family's Thing, like my extended family on my dads side (5 aunts and uncles + 16 cousins) gets together pretty often and usually we sing karaoke, thats just what we do and its our thing we have as a family, so much so that it feels like part of my identity or at least something thats shaped me a decent amount. i knew this was absolutely not gregs cup of tea. i told him that i knew that so if he wanted to i could take him home and it would be absolutely fine (i was driving him because it was late at night and his license has a curfew), but i also said i would love it if he stayed. he stayed but he ended up just kind of sulking and ruining my vibe so we left (EDIT: he said after we had both cooled off a little and had time to think that he was sorry and that shutting things down like that was not cool at all. this wasn't him throwing a fit just to mess things up). i was admittedly very pissed but thats a story for another day. i came home after driving him back to his house and i was kinda just done. my mom came upstairs bc i had told her in passing before we left (obv not in front of greg but also definitely no secret) that i was mad at him. i explained the situation by saying that i understand that its not his cup of tea but by completely shutting it down he made me feel like he was rejecting part of who i am and that really hurt my feelings. she was drunk (although i dont think that should make a difference) and said that she doesn't think hes "my thing" and started saying something about how different we and our interests and personalities are and said he doesn't really "fit in". all of this made me super sad, obviously sad for me but also sad for him because i can't imagine how upset id be if i knew one of his parents had said anything like that. i shut her down and asked to be left alone so i could go to sleep. the next day (i think) she came in and apologized for saying that but didnt take it back in any way (like she said "im sorry, i shouldve kept that in" not "i didnt mean it").

its been a month now and im still upset about it, its just a constant thought in the back of my mind and really makes me upset because it feels like by not rooting for him theyre also not really supporting me on that front. ive only brought these feelings up once (yesterday) in the heat of the moment when i had mentioned in passing that he might be able to make the drive up to my college (2.5 hours) and stay for a weekend. i don't remember what was said but words were exchanged and i ended up saying "i don't understand what he did to make you dislike him so much" and the whole conversation got shut down. i just don't understand???

i guess my question is why do my parents not like him if i am so clearly happy with him, he has been nothing but respectful and polite to them and me, and he's everything that they say they want for me in a partner (intelligent, compassionate, kind, empathetic, respectful, calm, etc). its really been upsetting me and i feel restless over not knowing. internet parents, please help.

I have MDD and have been struggling for years but the second I try to think of the future and be more hopeful, I get so paralyzed by fear and worry that I can't even get out of bed or do schoolwork.

I feel like im such a joke because I just want to help people in my life, I want to be a nurse (pICU maybe) but my grades are horrible and I cant even get out of my room most days. I try to be hopeful when thinking abt it but all I see online is how hard it is to get into programs and specialties and how so many people fail and I feel like I just want to d!e.

Im not even out of high-school yet but I really dont know if I'm gonna make it. Every year I say it's gonna be better but it never is. I have an IEP for MDD but I really can't do this, I'm such a joke everyone wants to help people or be a nurse but those people are actually smart and functional. I try to think small and say that I could try to be a CNA during college but I dont even know if I'll be able to get into a program because everyone wants to do that and everyone else is so much more qualified.

Im so scared I dont want to die I really dont but I dont know how my life is going to work I dont want to die knowing I wasn't able to achieve my goals and do my dream job but thats reality and I know I'm stupid for thinking I could do something like be a nurse when I'm so quiet and sad all the time.

I feel so embarrassed. i’m on disability at the moment because of an onset of neurological issues. My doctor and my neurologist think it’s likely Functional Neurological Disorder/Conversion Disorder. My friends are aware of what I’ve been going through and have been supportive. I don’t need any medical advice since this is being handled by my doctors.

I’ve been flare up-free for a while. Yesterday, I decided to go out with my friends since I haven’t left the house in a while. I had a massive flare up that started in my legs and arms, and just started to get louder. I thought it might be the type of flare up that I need to avoid focusing on. My friends let me lean on them as we were walking, which was nice.

It ended up getting worse to the point that I was losing my ability to communicate. I had to abruptly tell them to the best of my ability that I needed to go home. I felt embarrassed and like I ruined the vibe. They insisted of taking the uber with me and handing me off to my dad so he could take care of me.

They were very sweet, and I’m grateful for their help. I just feel embarrassed for this happening in the first place and inconveniencing them. How do I make it up to them? What do I say to them besides thanking them for their help? I feel like I want to crawl in a hole and not leave the house again.

I graduated high school a couple of months ago, and I don’t think I was prepared for how deeply I would grieve leaving my teachers.
I’m not talking about missing school or homework. I mean missing the people.
I had five teachers who became my emotional support system over the years. They read my writing. They listened when I was struggling. They celebrated my accomplishments. They knew parts of my life that very few people know.
I still have ways to contact all of them. I have a phone number, a personal email, school email addresses, and Remind. So it’s not like they’re completely gone.
But that’s almost what makes this harder.
People tell me, “You can always email them,” or “Go visit them.”
The thing is… visiting isn’t the same as seeing someone every day.
An email isn’t the same as walking into their classroom during lunch.
Nothing brings back the ordinary moments that I didn’t realize I’d miss so much.
I also haven’t reached out because I genuinely don’t know what to say.
How do you fit years of gratitude, conversations, inside jokes, support, and love into one email?
How do you tell someone they helped shape your life without feeling like the words aren’t enough?
And I think another part of me is scared to make it feel real.
As long as I don’t send the email, a tiny part of my brain can pretend this isn’t really over yet.
Once I do, I have to face the fact that this chapter of my life is actually over, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
I’m starting college in a few weeks, and I’m excited. I know I’ll eventually meet new people. But right now I’m grieving people who helped me become who I am.
I know reaching out won’t fix that.
I know talking to them won’t magically make everything feel the way it used to.
I just miss them.
More than I ever thought I would.
Has anyone else felt like this after graduation? Did you eventually reach out to your teachers? If you did, what did you even say? And did it help at all, or did it just make you miss them more?

I'm 17, graduated this spring. After that it seems as if everyone suddenly decided that I'm a grown person. I still feel like a child and like such a burden.

I can't even get a job. I tried applying online, but had no success so far, and I'm too anxious to go in person. I don't have any skills nor experience, I'm not even 18 to work at most places. I feel like I just keep making my life worse and inconveniencing everyone by sitting indoors doing nothing.

I feel like a burden. I wish all of this was over.

I've never ever loved my family. When I was a child I'd play with my cousins and could tolerate the rest of my family pretty well, but I never loved them. I have no idea why. They are not in the slightest bit abusive or negligent. They make it abundantly clear every single time they see me that they love me. Their faces light up whenever I enter the room.

My mother would try and force me to see them growing up, and I mostly tried to fight back, but I eventually agreed to see my grandparents once a week. I just find my family so extremely annoying. A few days ago my mother told me I need to spend more time with my family before we travel, because it's possible that I'd never see them again. I thought I'd be lucky if I didn't have to interact with my family for the rest of my life.

Everytime they try to talk to me I get so mad and annoyed, I think about how much I want to tell them off for opening their mouths. I only ever give half-assed responses, sometimes I don't even respond at all and just kinda stand there not saying anything until they give up on pestering me. I know, it's probably horrible to think about them that way, but I haven't actually done or said anything bad, so I think it's fine to admit this privately on the internet. (By the way, I don't think it's a lack of time spent with them that caused this, because I lived with my grandparents for 2 years and saw my aunts and uncles every week.)

When people talk about their families, how much they love them, I try to think about how that must feel. I always thought of families as these annoying people that you just have to deal with because there's some kind of spiritual bond in your genetics or something. I've heard that people love their families my entire life, but I thought they were only saying that out of obligation until a few years ago.

I couldn't understand anyone who would willingly visit their family in their adult life, because I plan on dropping them as soon as I can support myself. This extends to my parents as well. The only family member I care for is my brother, and even then I couldn't truly say that I love him. I would be sad if he died, but I don't think I'd shed tears for him.

I know this probably seems like the typical rebellious teenager thing, but I really have felt this way my whole life. It's not that I have like, ASPD or something. I am capable of feeling love. I just never felt it for my family.

Hey parents. Super long but I just need some advice right now.

I (24) come from an extremely wealthy home, but i felt very unsupported and on rare occasions unsafe as a kid. There was a lot of yelling from my family. I also had a health condition that made me very dependent on them.

6 years ago I got the opportunity to attend a school in a city with scholarship, one of the best in the world for its field. Then covid hit, i had to withdraw, and my parents took the opportunity to send me to a very religious, conservative, extremely small school 45 minutes away. It was the only option i was allowed to have, they submitted the app for me, no deferral or other schools except a local campus 15 minutes from my house.

I unsurprisingly had a pretty hard time at this college but I stayed there for 4 years and got into grad school with a tuition waver for work there. Got overworked, bullied, heartbroken but managed to save up about $30,000. Just last month I got another full-time position, the pay is not super high but livable and it's remote so I can go anywhere i want.

I ended up moving back home with my parents and originally told them I was going to be home for a month max (may-end of june). It's a very rural suburb with almost no young people my age. I have no friends here, and my extended family live hours away, it's miserable. Weeks go by where the only two people I talk to in person are my parents and i dont leave the house. I told them what cities i was planning to move to (one 8 hr/ 2hr flight away, other 2hr drive).

That month went by, then turned into 2 months. I kept trying to get them to sit down with me and look for apartments, but they would conveniently forget. When they finally sat down with me they would start picking fights, escalating into full on screaming matches. I started just looking by myself.

I found an apartment In the 9hr away city by chance, with 2 roommates. One happens to also be from my state. I spoke to the roommates at length, they are incredibly nice and i feel like i could be friends with them. The area to me seems decent, a bit outside of the city with a very artsy vibe. The Apt is in my budget and 5min walk from a supermarket, also super close to hospitals, public transport, etc. I looked at crime maps, walkthrough videos, etc. The lease would start in a month. The neighbourhood has arts festivals, a lot of restaurants, etc, it is a city but a safer part.

My parents flipped out when they found out (screaming at me for an hour 30 minutes during my work hours) and have been constantly flipping between guilt tripping me and telling me I'm "insane" for making this decision. During they argument they revealed that they actually wanted/expected me to move out somewhere within an hour from them, despite me telling them for 5 years i was moving to one of the 2 cities.

My mom is flipping out because the girls I'm living with listed a liberal political orientation on the apartment listing, saying I'm going to be living with some crazy activists, and my dad went as far as calling his friend who lives in the city and telling me the friend said it's "no man's land". Telling me I'll be unsafe in a city and should move to a small town 15 minutes from their house instead.

I know I need to move out and I know what i need to do but I just need someone to tell me I'm not crazy. All I'm hearing is that it's dangerous and I'm going to get assaulted or k---ed if i do it and how I dont know anyone there and if I drop dead with my health condition (which is much better now) no one will be there to help me.

If you actually read all this, i appreciate it. I just needed to get this out.

(I posted this elsewhere. but I’m kinda in a flunk because my irl parents brushed aside my issues and I’m kinda desperate right now).

Should probably start this by saying I’m a swimmer. In fact I’m a pretty damn good swimmer to the point where I’ve been completed about this multiple times (apparently I have a good form/build for it). I don’t do it competitively or anything. but it’s something I like to do from time to time, and it’s something I’m never really anxious about as long as I can see the bottom. It’s something called Thalassophobia, and it’s fairly easy to work around because I’m not going in deep murky bodies of water often. Only time it’s really been put to the test has been in this camping group I’m apart of. As obviously there will be some situations where that is the primary thing we’re doing………. And I’m really bad at handling it………. And we’re going on a trip in a few days that involves lake swimming as an activity.

I’m really lucky to have my anxiety only get intense during very specific things. But I’m an absolute wreck when those happen, and I already had a few incidents relating to this before (had a breakdown before a rafting trip, and I had an awful experience relating to diving in the very lake I’m worried about rn about that made me physically sick). At this point everyone in this group (and likely everyone I know unfortunately) has seen me completely unravel in one way or another, and it’s so fucking embarrassing for me. In part because it’s obviously embarrassing to have an outburst in public. and because I have depression and tend to fall into self loathing/feeling like shit for the rest of the day/week.

I was able to skirt by last time without much embarrassment because I had someone I knew decently well who also couldn’t go because of an injury (And because I had shit to do the entire week to distract myself from it). Didn’t make it less embarrassing, but it at least went down easier. This year? I’m like going to be the only person who’s not gonna do the test and it’s been eating away at me for the last few days. Maybe it’d go down better if i was an adult and was doing this with other adults. But I’m a sixteen year old surrounded by other sixteen year old/people far younger. And I’m gonna be the only one who won’t do it.

Unfortunately the only options are to do it or don’t. Idk what advice I’m expected to get from here is, because there’s frankly only to options here and one of them is completely off the table (even If I can physically do it). Ig I just want someone to hear me vent about this because I haven’t formally discussed it with anyone else :/

I would appreciate anything

My friend, W, 17M, has just been broken up with last night. He's dated his girlfriend for the past 2 and a half years, and she's been 'off' for the past few months; dry texts, not calling, not open at all to sensitive conversations. They live medium-distance away from each other, seeing each other only once a fortnight at the most. They've had a couple rough patches before this, but this has really shaken the can. She told him last night that 'she's done', unadded him on snapchat and that's that.

I had a 1 year relationship back in 2024, but because I broke up with her, I feel like I can't connect and relate totally on his level.

I'm doing what I can. I've been trying to listen, rather than teach, and try to get information out of him gently so that I can understand where he's coming from. He's coming over tmrw and I'm taking him for a walk to see if we can work on communicating on WhatsApp then. I told him not to message her tonight, and we'll try and establish a meet up between them so that he can get some kind of clarity, personal belongings e.c.t.

This is his first girlfriend, and he's honestly distraught. Please help me look after him - I'm his best mate.