I feel I have become my sisters emotional punch bag. She has suffered from mental health problems for years and goes up and down like a yoyo. One minute she treats me like I am her one and only confidant, talks to me about everything and anything, goes out of her way in kindness until it is suffocating and is completely over the top with my children, to the point where I feel the need to try and enforce boundaries that she is not their mother. I'll be really supportive, help her, support her on down days and encourage her on good days. Then it can all change in the blink of an eye, I can say one thing (which would have been fine the day before) and it'll be taken out of context, blown out of all proportion and she won't talk to me for weeks on end, my name will be scum with anyone who mentions it, and she will completely ignore me and my children, whatever efforts I make to communicate, and go as far as for example when can be in the same room and it is as if we don't exist, I'll say hello, she'll ignore, and the same to my children. I won't really know what will have triggered this reaction to me until weeks/ months later when she'll suddenly be ok again and will tell me it was all my fault she ignored me because of x,y or z. There is no recognition or acknowledgement of her unreasonable behaviour and thus the cycle begins again. In the past I have found it all really hard and emotionally difficult, and I hate it impacting on my children who never know whether they are coming or going with her. Quite simply I've had enough, I'm growing numb to her behaviour and just want done with it. I want to distance myself and not be her supporting rock, but equally hopefully this means I not the enemy.We go through this cycle every few months, and I'm tired of it. I know that make me selfish, I know I should be there for her, but she as other family members, she has a husband I feel I need to let it be someone elses turn. I think they re very happy for to be this person for her and they can all dance around the edges of her! Sorry just fed up with it all, its not that I don't care, of course I do , I just don't have anything else to give and my children are old enough now to pick up on it and that for me is the trigger to walk away.
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To walk away from sister with depression and mental health problem
17 replies
SydneySlough · 09/05/2014 20:49
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