Forgave my controlling/abusive family , But now it just feels strange ?
Question by : Forgave my controlling/abusive family , But now it just feels strange ?
I am 28 years old. I got the hell out of a highly dysfunctional family about 2 years ago and drove 2,000 miles out of state to the south. When I say Highly , I mean highly. My father is a racist. Never respected anyone, Don’t appreciate or thanks anyone. Always acts like a kid . Expects me to care for him (Still) after years and years of physical/emotional trauma which I am working through.
My mother always try to get the family members against each other and use words to get them to have a animosity against each other , mainly through comparisons after comparisons.
My brother , although tried to help me when i lost my job , is still a very inconsiderate and disrespectful guy. He looks down on me, talks to me like I am nothing if things doesn’t go his way. I can see his future already. The same cycle that goes on with my parents x 10.
I spend my middle school days and high school days in terror of these people. I spend most of my college years in isolation and deep depression, until I started reading up on materials on abuse and how it cripples a human being. Now I am better , Not completely, But I am getting there. I am starting to make some few healthy friends and I am in control of my addictions.(most of it atleast)
Recently , Since I started talking to my parents ,My brother has been helping me with a computer job and I thought Oh that’s nice he wants to help me. But I think it was a big mistake on my part because it seems like , He’s more like doing things to look good infront of other people than really trying to help me.
Here’s an example : My brother flew me in to NY for an interview. I went along with it because I thought Ok, I guess he really wants to help. When i got here, I talked to my cousin about setting up a “mock interview” . My brother came to find out about this and confronted me like in a attacking manner which brought me back memories . He started asking me questions like – ” Why did you set up an interview with him, He’s not technical , He’s only business( I told him , yea I know that ) but he kept on interrogating me as if I am some kind of idiot who doesn’t know difference between A and Z. Also another thing that caught my attention was when he said ” if you let him help you, he’s gonna keep talking about it all his life” and also how everything was HIS IDEA( my bros) .
I was like WTF! So it is all about control then. am I wrong to think that??
The return date is November 20th. Should I get the hell back before that? Because I don’t feel comfortable here . My insenstive father ( who tried to kill me 2 years ago and I took him to court)
is giving me cold shoulders and getting mad ( literally ) why I don’t call him every day! It’s the twilight zone here!
What the hell was I thinking when I forgave them ? I am upset because I have a set a new standard for my life , altogether. I want to be around ” healthy ” people and want to lead a highly healthy life for the rest of my life. With my parents in my life, I hate to say this, I don’t see that happening. No I am serious. I know it sucks. But it’s just not happening. I don’t even want my kids to around these people.
What do I do ? I am sick of these people who suck the energy out of my life. ! !
Should I end this and go back ? Interview is supposed to be tommorow. I dn’t even feel like going for it anymore.
Best answer:
Answer by yourinnervoice
Your problem is with them, confront that head- on if you want to liberate yourself. And I feel you should. Bro’s reverting to the old behavior with you because that’s what naturally happens when brothers in that situation try to forge ahead without having deeper understanding or respect.
Nothing wrong with forgiveness, just don’t confuse it with acceptance.
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Can you afford a place far far away from them? If yes, then go! You’re old enough to live on your own!
You need a job for that, and reliable contacts that you can depend on when you need help, 1 or 2 close friends.
I live in a family like that,well not exactly but they still do get on my nerves and I decided the best solution for me is to live away from them, but still maintain contact once in a while (in your case, I would suggest once every 2 years in case they start following you :S )
Any answer I give would be an opinion. Ultimately it is your decision.You only live one life,only get one chance to get it right and be a happy person. Some people are not good for us in any way and it seems unfortunate that those people are your family. If I were you, I would get the hell out of there and continue a long distance relationship with the family, or none at all. Your choice.
Your family sounds exactly like mine. I mean exactly.
The brother who pretends to be such a nice guy then turns into a whole different person once he doesn’t get his way: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The mother who is overly demanding and swears at you and tells you nasty things because you don’t suck up to her 24/7.
The father who would physically and emotionally abuse you when you were younger, and is still emotionally abusive and tries to be physically abusive.
Get the hell out of there. You don’t want to be stuck to your brother, because if you get that job, you will feel as though you ‘owe’ him, and he’ll make sure to make you feel like that. Get away from them, and go make a new life, and make it clear to them that you don’t want to deal with them unless they’re willing to make a change, which they probably never will be.
You don’t deserve that crap. They aren’t even worth your time. Just remember you’ve done what you can and there’s nothing else you can do.
Good luck.