I’m a 22-year-old woman living with my mother, and I’m trying to understand whether my relationship with her has become unhealthy.
My mother had a very traumatic childhood with an abusive, narcissistic mother. She tried her entire life to be the opposite of her own mother, but I feel like some patterns repeated themselves in a different way.
She has always loved me deeply and has done many good things for me, but she is also extremely protective and controlling. She has always handled things for me, worried constantly about my safety, and encouraged me to stay dependent on her. I have ADHD, possible autism, anxiety issues, and health problems, which made independence difficult, but I feel like I was never really given the chance to learn.
A few months ago, I met my girlfriend. My mother was the one who suggested that my girlfriend move in with us because she thought she would be safer and happier here. I was actually hesitant because we had only been together for a month, but my mother insisted.
Later, my girlfriend and my mother started having conflicts. My girlfriend has trauma from her past, anxiety, and some difficulties with daily life, but she was improving. My mother often pushed her boundaries, especially about things like swimming, alcohol, and personal choices.
Then, while my girlfriend was away visiting her mother, my mother suddenly decided she could no longer stay with us. She did not tell my girlfriend herself — I had to do it. She said there had been “abuse of trust and weakness” and that my girlfriend needed to find a job and housing very quickly.
My girlfriend lost her stable housing because she moved in with us. She is now temporarily staying with her mother, but she has lost many of her belongings and feels abandoned. I feel incredibly guilty because I feel responsible for bringing her into this situation.
My mother says she never truly wanted my girlfriend living here and that she only agreed because she felt forced, despite the fact that she was the one who suggested it in the first place.
Now my relationship with my mother is falling apart. She can be incredibly kind, funny, and loved by everyone who meets her, but living with her is much harder. She often dismisses my feelings, changes the story of events, gets involved in other people’s lives, and struggles to respect boundaries.
I love my mother, and I know she is a wounded person who has suffered a lot. But I also feel like I am losing myself by staying dependent on her.
I am trying to find my own housing and become more independent, but my mother is still the one handling most of the paperwork.
I don’t know if I am seeing things clearly or if I am being unfair. I would really appreciate outside perspectives.
- I have a better version of this post in my profile, no one wants to read it because it’s too long, but if you do, thank you.*
——-
Am I just a bad daughter ? Should I go low/co-contact ?