Quote From: ritehere We teach others how to treat us. Your father is teaching you how to run away from him. Don't feel guilty about it and don't apologise for it. Parents are supposed to be loving and nurturing, but some are not. That is not your fault. It's only your fault if you follow in his footsteps. If he is that bad, maybe you can give your younger siblings a safe place to land when you get out. Personally, I wouldn't wait too long, I would rent for awhile if I had to.
I had a friend when I was a young adult who left home at 17. She had herself declared an adult and worked parttime after school, while living at a friend's till she graduated. She would take in her mother and younger brother and sister when the father was drinking and beating on them. I never could understand why the mother stayed with him, but she did. We can choose not behave the way we were taught, and we can choose good people to surround us.
Sometimes it's hard to close our door for our parents since for so many years we've been taught to respect and love them. But there's certain conditions that you'd close your heart and move on with your lives. Mental problems or whatever you called it is something really difficult to deal with. If we're not strong enough, sooner or later we'll be like one of them. I had a bad experience with my husband's family. My husband and his 3 brothers had been raised by a single mother who has mental problems. Now they all grown up and fought each other. The mother knew the problems but still being denial.
She attacked us mentally and my husband couldn't stop her. Finally, we made our decision....we packed our staffs and never look back again. We have 4yo son that need his mom and dad to be healthy mentally. Don't feel guilty....that's absolutely right. We all have choices.
