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Topic : Toxic Family Relationships

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Created on : Thursday, July 07, 2005, 09:18:00 am
Author : dataimport
Whether it stems from substance abuse, violence or manipulation, some family relationships are harmful and need to be terminated until the abuse stops. Are you involved in a toxic relationship?

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chillin'
September 30, 2005, 7:44 pm PDT

Just wondering

I am a mother of a 17 very soon to be 18 year old girl.  She is beautiful usually makes good choices never has gave us any trouble of any kind. Makes good grades in school,we attend church in which she is very involved.  My question is she is in a interacial dating relationship. I like this other person very well really have no problems with him but the issue is one is black one is white.  My worry is that if they would get married and have children how will these children survive? I mean in the since how will society treat them?  That worries me and bothers me. They decide their future but the children have no say. Recently I was filling out a form for my daughter and the question was a typical question every form asks, you are supposed to mark the box that applies to you,white,black or other? It just hit me,will her baby be mark "other"? I don't know I want the best for her and her future. He is wonderful to her and has a great future ahead of him. This would be the first interacial marriage if it came to that for our family and we do have family members that would not accept that. I would never do anything that would destroy the relationship my daughter and I have .  What do others think about this? I would appreciate your comments.  Thanks
 
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September 30, 2005, 9:28 pm PDT

My opinion

Quote From: harmony_1

I am a mother of a 17 very soon to be 18 year old girl.  She is beautiful usually makes good choices never has gave us any trouble of any kind. Makes good grades in school,we attend church in which she is very involved.  My question is she is in a interacial dating relationship. I like this other person very well really have no problems with him but the issue is one is black one is white.  My worry is that if they would get married and have children how will these children survive? I mean in the since how will society treat them?  That worries me and bothers me. They decide their future but the children have no say. Recently I was filling out a form for my daughter and the question was a typical question every form asks, you are supposed to mark the box that applies to you,white,black or other? It just hit me,will her baby be mark "other"? I don't know I want the best for her and her future. He is wonderful to her and has a great future ahead of him. This would be the first interacial marriage if it came to that for our family and we do have family members that would not accept that. I would never do anything that would destroy the relationship my daughter and I have .  What do others think about this? I would appreciate your comments.  Thanks
In my opinion, if this person treats your daughter w/ dignity and respect, and show's her love and affection, and is caring towards her, and she's happy w/ him, then who cares what color he is! It is the year 2005, and we as Americans should be able to see beyond the color of someone's skin. I understand that you want the best for your daughter and her future, and the best thing you can do for her, is show her support, and let her know that you stand by her no matter what. Race will always be a factor to some people, and hey, you can't please everyone, but the important thing is that your daughter is happy. And since she is only 18, who knows, this might not even be the man she marries! She still has a lot of growing up to do. I am 22 and I can't even see marriage in my future until I'm 30!
 
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September 30, 2005, 9:44 pm PDT

I feel ya!

Quote From: nursejan

i have a 19 yr old daughter that has her own car, pays us 100.00/mo to live with us,but is so irresponsible. we do have rules  in our house and everytime we let her go out she is always late coming home if she comes home at all. she thinks we are just the meanest parents because we set a curphew. she went  out tonight and was suppose to be in by midnight. it's 3am and she still isn't home. no call from her or anything. i have called the police station and hospitals to make sure she wasn't there and she isn't. my husband is at his wits end and so am i........i love my daughter but it is putting a strain on our marriage. she can't make it financially without us but i don't know what else to do. we keep taking her back everytime she does this.. her dad is really mad this time and he wants her  out. what do i do??
I read your post, and I can totally understand why you and your husband are upset w/ your daughter, but please do not make a snap deciscion, like kicking her out, when you're so upset. You will regret it later! I'm 22, so I'm not much older than your daughter, but I can understand that you are worried about her when she goes out, and doesn't make her curfew. Any loving, concerned parent would be, but did you ever sit back and analiyze the whole situation? She is 19, so she might feel like she's old enough to be able to go out, w/ out a curfew, and come and go has she pleases. I never had a curfew at the age of 19, and I don't think that I know anyone that did. She might feel like you guys are trying to keep her in a bubble, and she's probably just wanting to have the type of life, that possibly some of her friends have. Before my mother passed away, I lived w/ her for awhile, and I paid a small amount of rent. It never bothered me b/c it taught me responsibility, so I think it's a good thing that you're teaching her that, but I do think that maybe you guys should try to compromise w/ her. I would calmly talk to her about the situation, when you're not upset, that way she doesn't feel as if she's being attacked. Let her know that if she wants to continue to live in your house, then she will have to follow the rules, but then suggest compromising her curfew time, that way she feels like she does have a say in what's going on. It's hard being 19 b/c you're stilll a teenager, making that transission into being an adult, and she needs you and your husband right now! The last thing you want to do, is make her move out, b/c I know she will resent you later on for this. I hope everything works out.
 
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September 30, 2005, 9:55 pm PDT

my opinion

Quote From: lanav404

I just don't know what to do.  I am sitting here feeling like the walls are closing in on me.  I am 24 years old and still constantly fighting with my parents. You see, they are from Russia and have very old-school standards. I am Jewish and have been dating a Palestinian for almost two years now. Even though he is Christian and not Moslim, my mom is mortified. She was so nice to me when she thought him and I broke up but she recently found out we are still dating and she is threatening to call the police on me if I ever try to show up at our house again.  She is verbally abusive and says things I could never imagine saying to another soul.  My parents have been so serious my whole life and I never truly felt like they were proud of me no matter how much I accomplished.  I constantly find myself trying to impress them and that alone gets very stressful.  I am so scared that the relationship I have had with my parents will ruin all other relationships in my life and I won't know how to treat my children when I have some.  I tried talking to them, writing letters, yelling at them and nothing seems to work.  I work and go to a university full time, don't drink, don't do drugs, don't stay out late, and still they can't be proud for me or about me.  AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!! 

Be proud of yourself, and stop looking for their approval, b/c it seems like you can't please them either way! I know how hard it is to not have a good relationship w/ your parents, but it sounds like your doing your part, and now they need to start doing their's! It's not going to happen over might, and who know's if it ever will. The important thing is that you are happy, and you are content w/ things in your life. You can't change someone that doesn't want to change! Try to stay positive, and not let their comments bring you down! You're an adult now, and you can make decisions for yourself... And they need to realize that!
 
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September 30, 2005, 11:03 pm PDT

Toxic Family Relationships

Quote From: peaceofluv

Be proud of yourself, and stop looking for their approval, b/c it seems like you can't please them either way! I know how hard it is to not have a good relationship w/ your parents, but it sounds like your doing your part, and now they need to start doing their's! It's not going to happen over might, and who know's if it ever will. The important thing is that you are happy, and you are content w/ things in your life. You can't change someone that doesn't want to change! Try to stay positive, and not let their comments bring you down! You're an adult now, and you can make decisions for yourself... And they need to realize that!
hey- well this is weird.. i am a new the average teen and maybe even worse.. i have gone threw all imaginable, and more.Already my parents and I dont get along, mainly my mom. A lot I think about what I can do to get a healthy relationship. My mom watches Dr Phil all the time, and i do too with her sometimes, but we think totally different. I am very much a girly girl who has set goals for life, and she is more to politics and money unlike me. I care for the country and I want all to be perfect, but i understand if ur not gonna do nething about it, shut up and dont complain about it... For about a year now, i come home from school and I get in trouble... lately me and my dad havent been getting along all that great...I just dont know what to do..
 
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October 1, 2005, 7:55 am PDT

can anyone relate?

    Hello,  i am  a 25 year old mother of 2 girls i was married for 6 years,  and relyed on my hubby for everything, because i was so very young.  We seperated 2 years ago,  and i now have a boyfriend, who also lives with me and my kids, we have been together, for 2 yrs.    Through this I have lost myself, am severly depressed,  and failed as a mother, this man that i am inlove with, is not what i imagined, a life would be.  He's an alcoholic, metally abusive, and is very mean to my kids.... 

But once again like my ex hubby i feel like i cant do it alone, he makes me feel hopeless,  I have always depended on one of theses men, so how can i ever get ahead...    My kids watch, my tears and addictions to pills etc, this is not the mother i want to be 

so lost in pennsylvania......please help 

 
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October 1, 2005, 4:03 pm PDT

.....

Quote From: hurtingurl

ummm....ya if i wrote a letter 2 any of my parents they would just say "this is sh**" then throw it away..i know them very very well..unfortunatleywell...things havent gotten better but havent gotten worse..my mom left on monday to go shopping in duluth..she got back wednesday so everything was good around the housemy dad was all nice & everything when she was gone(thats y i think they'd b happier apart)..since she got back it hasnt been so bad..but the worse has yet to comei curaintly started drinking..when i go 2 my friends moms house we drink a lot..its not like we get torked or n e thing..but i do think it has sumthin' to do with my 'family life'well i still dont know what to do with my lifeim also not doing very well in school...well my grades were kinda bad ever since i started highschool(i am now in 11th grade) & i believe there is nothin i can do bout that..no matter how hard i try i still get like a C-D..& im also in 10th grade math& to top it all of i get motion sickness all the time..i've been 2 the dr. many many MANY times..i've had like 2-3 MRI's & they cant find nothin'..i've been getting motion sickness ever since i was like 6..so i also believe that i can never get better from thatmy life is so pathetic...i wiegh bout' 134 & am like 5'6"-5'7" & i think im fat..do u think i need to do like a major turn in life cuz i have no clue what to doi think im fat..dumb..& not worth the time..oh my gosh i cant take this pain any moreso what do u guys think??
help?¿?¿..n e 1?
 
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October 2, 2005, 11:53 am PDT

Parents who are abusive; abusive sister

Hi. 

  

Where do I start?  My family has never been completely happy.  My mother is the one who has always been very arogant, mean and abusive towards my Dad and I early on.  When my sister came into the family(I am six years older than she is), my parents pretty much let her do what she wanted and now, at 36(I will be 42 in December), she has controlled my parents to the degree that they have now turned on me and told me that I am nothing but a liar and a "bad daughter."  The truth of the matter is that my sister has inherited my mother's violent and abusive traits.  I, as well as my husband and inlaws now, have seen her hit my father, more often than my mother who tends to just let her do what she wants--that is, she continues to live in their home, has had a child out of wedlock my daughter's age(7 years)and has controlled their income, their social and family life, etc. so much so that it has destroyed any contact I have with them now. 

  

We first had a falling out 7 years ago, my mother and I since a child she has often hit, cuss, terriorize and threaten me and it all began in 1997 when my daughter was a baby and I was not doing everything I should for my sister.  When I said "no" and tried to stand up to both of my parents, my mother left 5 angry and violent messages on our phone.  My mother-in-law, who was there at the time, was so upset that of course, I ended up breaking the relationship with my family for just a year or so. 

  

When we made our peace, I thought that perhaps my mother had changed and we had become closer.   My dad, on the other had, looked awful and was always upset.  It was like they changed roles in the course of a year but I knew that all the abuse, the violence, the anger my mother and now my sister had projected on my Dad, had worn him down.   My mother, on the other hand, had my sister diagnosed with bi-polar syndrome and often when they came for a visit(we live several hours away)would talk hateful about her and told me once that she wanted her to die or wished she would just take her life now as she often would threaten my parents with the thought of taking her life because no one understood her. 

  

My sister has pretty much alienated herself as well as my parents and niece from both sides of the family.  Only one aunt, my dad's older sister, thinks I am being unreasonable and unChristian by finally deciding to leave for good and never to have contact again because after speaking to a therapist, they all refuse to change and rather, they have gone to my inlaws, my grandparents and others and told such nasty lies about me when everyone, except for this aunt, knows the truth and realizes that it is my sister and my mother who has destroyed my Dad.  My dad has turned on me and he told my husband recently that I lie, cheat and steal all the time which could not be further from the truth.  I have never even received a speeding ticket and it is my sister who was taken away by the police several times in the past few years for attacking my Dad.  This older sister of my dad has totally broken my confidence and sent copies of my email to them and they called the other night, stating that I was a "blankity-blank" lier.  My dad called my mother-in-law and tried to get her to hear their side that I am a lier and she told him that she did not want to speak to either him or my mother and hung up.    

  

Of course, this is all over the fact that when my 7 year daughter and I were home, my sister, in a violent rage, attacked my daughter and I got upset and yelled at her.  In turn, my parents and my sister came down on me and my daughter, scared to death, wanted to leave and we did as we ended up staying at my inlaws.  My husband was in school and did not know what was going on until he tried to call my parents and they just hung up on him.  Of course, the real blessing was that my mother's step-mother, whose relationship is truly strained, just happened to be there and witnessed this entire episode.  I have since talked to her and she has told me stories that my Granddad, who died last year, told her about my mother.  It turns out that she ended up marrying my dad out of spite against him when she could not get any money out of him.  He and I, on the other hand, have always had a great relationship and he once told me that she never did treat me right and it pains me now to think he is not here to turn to.  My dad, who has no backbone and could never stand up to my mother, was quite the opposite.  He could never provide us with the proper essentials and now, it looks like my sister is just going to take everything my mother inherited towards her dad away because all she does is harrass them for money so she can get drunk every night. 

  

I cannot go back to my family.  My marriage is a good one and very solid.  But that is because I waited and wanted to marry the man I am with now.  We are very happy, despite this one upheavel.  I am fortunate to have a husband, daughter, inlaws and other family members, except for the one aunt who thinks I am wrong, to stand behind me. 

  

Thank-you for listening. 

 
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October 2, 2005, 3:44 pm PDT

toxic personal relationship

Quote From: alonemom

    Hello,  i am  a 25 year old mother of 2 girls i was married for 6 years,  and relyed on my hubby for everything, because i was so very young.  We seperated 2 years ago,  and i now have a boyfriend, who also lives with me and my kids, we have been together, for 2 yrs.    Through this I have lost myself, am severly depressed,  and failed as a mother, this man that i am inlove with, is not what i imagined, a life would be.  He's an alcoholic, metally abusive, and is very mean to my kids.... 

But once again like my ex hubby i feel like i cant do it alone, he makes me feel hopeless,  I have always depended on one of theses men, so how can i ever get ahead...    My kids watch, my tears and addictions to pills etc, this is not the mother i want to be 

so lost in pennsylvania......please help 

You feel like you "can't do it alone" because you have never "done it" alone. You have always been dependant upon a man to create your identity. Its up to you to change the way your life is going... think of your precious children... you say that the man you live with is very mean to them. They don't deserve to be treated so badly, you don' t deserve to be treated badly. I don't even know you, but I know that you deserve to be happy and your children deserve to be happy. Giving them the gift of having a loving and stable home would be the best thing you could ever do!! For a child, knowing that you are loved and safe is all that is important. 

You said that the man in your life makes you feel hopeless. You must take your personal power back from this man! You aren't just giving up your own personal power, you are sacrificing your 2 daughters' personal power, too. You are the most powerful role-model in their lives. Show them that a good mother is a strong woman who protects herself and her children. Reach out to your community for any and all services that are available to you to help get you and your children in a safe place. I wish you luck!! 

 
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October 3, 2005, 10:12 am PDT

Toxic Family Relationships

Quote From: alonemom

    Hello,  i am  a 25 year old mother of 2 girls i was married for 6 years,  and relyed on my hubby for everything, because i was so very young.  We seperated 2 years ago,  and i now have a boyfriend, who also lives with me and my kids, we have been together, for 2 yrs.    Through this I have lost myself, am severly depressed,  and failed as a mother, this man that i am inlove with, is not what i imagined, a life would be.  He's an alcoholic, metally abusive, and is very mean to my kids.... 

But once again like my ex hubby i feel like i cant do it alone, he makes me feel hopeless,  I have always depended on one of theses men, so how can i ever get ahead...    My kids watch, my tears and addictions to pills etc, this is not the mother i want to be 

so lost in pennsylvania......please help 

Your most significant obligation is not to selfishly seek out a remedy to your solitude, but rather to mother your children.

  

 " i feel like i cant do it alone, he makes me feel hopeless,  I have always depended on one of theses men, so how can i ever get ahead..." 

 

You are not the hopeless one, unfortunately your children are. And inaptly they depend on their mother, who relies on an "alcoholic, metally abusive, and is very mean man" 

  

Overcome for you children. 

 

 
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