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What's it like to feel loved.

16 replies

MiniMum97 · 13/09/2020 02:04

Possibly posting on the wrong board I'm not sure but I read another thread this evening about robust mental health and someone had written they thought their good mental health partly comes from "feeling loved".

I know there are some people who love me logically but I am not sure I have ever "felt loved".

Just wondered if some people who feel loved could explain what this feels like. Maybe I do feel loved but I'm not recognising it.

Off to bed now but will check the thread tomorrow.

Thanks all

OP posts:
Inappropriatefemale · 13/09/2020 02:13

I don’t actually know either because it’s only today, after knowing my mother for 39 years of my whole life, obvs, that I’ve learnt that she has only been a “good mother” to me because she has bought me things, she thinks a good mother just buys things and I’ve had shit friends and shit boyfriends my whole life and it’s no wonder I’ve always had such low self esteem.

Reading into narcissistic mothers has brought to me all of this stuff I didn’t know, it’s almost like the universe has been speaking to me lately because the word narcissism seems to be everywhere just now and last week, I bought Thats Life magazine, (hardly psychology monthly I know Grin) then there was 2 pages devoted to narcissism and how to spot a narcissist and it suddenly hit me, my mother is one and I’m a product of her “parenting”!

Maybe not helpful to what your post is about but I am curious as to how many people actually feel loved.

BlueBirdGreenFence · 13/09/2020 02:31

It feels safe. That you can be yourself without admonishment and that you know that person cares about your wellbeing.

Inappropriatefemale · 13/09/2020 15:25

I only feel half loved then in that case @BlueBirdGreenFence.

Sssloou · 13/09/2020 20:53

Love is the consistent actions of kindness and respect towards another.

When this happens the other feels radiant sensations of safety and warmth.

Grellbunt · 13/09/2020 20:59

I would agree. Which is why I can’t relate to a lot of people’s expressions of „love“ for people whose behaviour is downright nasty and untrustworthy ...

Sssloou · 13/09/2020 21:21

Maybe that is because that’s all they got from their parents.

Infrequent and inconsistent scraps / crumbs of attention that came with strings, manipulations, fear etc. That was as good as it got. That was their blueprint.

BexR · 13/09/2020 21:27

For me it is confidence that I could totally fuck up and they would still be there for me.

I'm loved but it's not all about feeling cherished, and being the apple of their eye etc. Its flawed and I sometimes doubt it is there but when the chips are down it becomes absolutely clear that love is there.

EnidMatilda · 13/09/2020 21:32

I feel very loved by my parents. I know that they genuinely want the best for me. They would help me in any situation if I asked for it. It's very comfortable with them. We can all be ourselves without fear of rejection because they would never reject me. It's given me self confidence, I think. I know I'm so lucky. I'm grateful for them everyday.

Grellbunt · 13/09/2020 22:23

@Sssloou

Maybe that is because that’s all they got from their parents.

Infrequent and inconsistent scraps / crumbs of attention that came with strings, manipulations, fear etc. That was as good as it got. That was their blueprint.

So so sad, isn’t it?
Inappropriatefemale · 14/09/2020 14:52

My mum put me down lots growing up and then puts me up at times and after all I’ve been reading etc, then I genuinely think she has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I’m the scapegoat child, I got that punch in the gut when I read what a typical scapegoat child has to put up with, it’s a horrible realisation and it makes sense as to why I am who I am.

I have been blamed for my little brother being born early and nearly dying (I was 16) to my mum nearly divorcing my put upon Stepdad, to my mum failing her driving test and the amount of people that know her well -yet only know me through what she says about me- all seem to hate me or just plain dislike me, is mental, she has also caused issues for me, had my so called friends calling her behind my back and telling her stuff about me and when I pulled my mum up she said “but I’m your mother and I have a right to know”, to which I replied “and I’m a fucking adult and a person in my own right, which you don’t seem to realise”, and as usual I got shut down, well not any more, I’m currently in the middle of writing her a very, very long letter to explain and to tell her if she doesn’t attend counselling with me then I’m cutting her off for good, I’ve already mentioned counselling to her and immediately she said “no way”, that’s because she can’t/won’t look to herself as the issue, but then narcissistic’s don’t do they.

Sorry to have derailed you OP with my stuff but I’m that stressed that I can’t help it, everyday for the past few weeks I’ve been pacing up and down in my house shouting out loud about all the things she has said and done to me and I’m getting really angry and the realisation that my mum is a manipulative liar and a crap mum, is awfulSad she is good, and always was, at the practical stuff like feeding me, going overboard at Xmas with me even though I’m an adult (she spends at least £400 on me every Xmas) and giving me money and it’s dawned on me that she has bought me and she buys people, when my brother brought home his boyfriend to meet her for the first time in the month of October in 2016, then she spent about £200 on him at Xmas, some will say “aw that’s nice” and it is but what’s her real motive I wonder, also she is so judgmental about others people and their “crap” parenting and I sit there whilst she criticised them and I just think “this woman has zero self awareness”, if any parents don’t spend lots of cash on their kids at Xmas then to my mother they are “shit” parents, she is also less uptight and angry since her mother died and I’m now starting to think her mother did exactly the same to her and there is no way I’m going to just wait until my mother dies to feel less stressed, some may think I’m being horrible but I think some here will understand where I’m coming from, no wonder my mums elder sister fucked off travelling at 18 and never looked back, no wonder she moved to England and only visited my grandmother every couple of years, I’m now beginning to understand my families dynamic, this is the aunty that dislikes me according to my mum, and when I see my aunty she doesn’t seem like she dislikes me at all, infact we are very alike, when my mum got pregnant at 17 and was dumped by my dad then my grandmother was worried “what the neighbours would say” so she wanted my aunty to raise me and I only wish she did as my cousins, my aunts kids, are far more successful and well rounded than myself and my brother.

Killerpinkflamingo · 14/09/2020 17:09

For me it is feeling safe, and feeling like I am “home”

MiniMum97 · 19/09/2020 00:58

@BlueBirdGreenFence

It feels safe. That you can be yourself without admonishment and that you know that person cares about your wellbeing.
I don't think I've ever felt like this.
OP posts:
Sssloou · 19/09/2020 01:03

*It feels safe. That you can be yourself without admonishment and that you know that person cares about your wellbeing.

I don't think I've ever felt like this.*

Could that person be you? Can you silence the inner critic and amplify self care, self compassion and self love?

MiniMum97 · 19/09/2020 01:12

Thanks everyone for your posts. My mother is not narcissistic but she is very messed up from abuse she suffered as a child and is very critical and very inconsistent. I never knew/know how she was going to react. Sometimes she is super supportive and caring. Usually when I am upset and struggling as I think she can empathise with this. She's also amazing at practical support and is very generous with her money even though she won't spend any on herself and criticises me when I spend my own money!

However I have never felt "safe" around her (or anyone). Even now as an adult she makes me nervous and on edge. She could fly off the handle at any moment and start screaming and shouting over nothing.

When I read the thread that prompted this post I realised I didn't know what it meant to feel "loved". And I think it's likely that I have never felt safe.

I was bullied at school too and have always felt different and somehow unacceptable to my peers too.

No conclusion really but interesting to read the posts. And some more pieces in the puzzle of my crazy broken brain for me to work on!

OP posts:
MiniMum97 · 19/09/2020 01:22

@Sssloou

*It feels safe. That you can be yourself without admonishment and that you know that person cares about your wellbeing.

I don't think I've ever felt like this.*

Could that person be you? Can you silence the inner critic and amplify self care, self compassion and self love?

There lots going on inside my broken brain but I do try to practice self compassion. I have so much to work on though, emotionally and physically. i have chronic physical health conditions plus various mental health issues and ND. it's a lot and am constantly working on me in one way or another. Am back on the wait list for therapy as my mental health has been really bad this year and can't get it under control. Lots to work on including self compassion.
OP posts:
Sssloou · 19/09/2020 01:50

and have always felt different and somehow unacceptable to my peers too.

That’s quite an important insight to have got to. Can you be acceptable to yourself? That’s where self compassion starts.

You were deal a bad hand in childhood and have an awful lot going on now - but you are looking forward. Just be gentle with your self, pace yourself. No rush. Trying too hard, doing too much, going too fast is inadvertently counterproductive and overwhelming.

Self accept that you are doing great, the journey is the destination. Slow goes faster.

Hope that you can settle to find some balance and peaceful moments.

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