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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Cuckoo syndrome - are you a fellow sufferer? (child abuse)

34 replies

cuckoosyndrome · 16/06/2015 09:04

NC for this, but regular.

There's a dynamic in my family that I'm going to call 'cuckoo syndrome'. I'm defining cuckoo syndrome as the scapegoating of one sibling by another, in order for the last sibling to monopolise all of the emotional, practical and financial resources of the family unit.

This has happened to me. My sister lives with my parents and gets all of their support and help - they do literally everything for her. She has no children, a very good job, a long term partner, and hundreds of thousands of pounds in savings for a house.

I get a grudging phone call once a week.

What hurts is that this relationship is perpetuated by the fact that they all, as a unit, maintain a series of toxic fictions about me: that I was a difficult child, a bully, overly dominant, a nightmare to grow up with - and my sister has been so damaged by this that she needs constant support. I admit that I was difficult, but that is because I was being abused emotionally, physically and even once sexually by my mother. She was utterly controlling because she was mentally ill and could not deal with my becoming an independent person. That said, my behaviour was very, very far from being off the scale for a stroppy teenager. I was a 'better' child than the vast majority of my friends, for instance.

I feel like the focus has been deliberately placed on my behaviour as the 'problem' in order to conceal this much greater wrong that was being done. My sister knows my side of the story, but makes it clear that she doesn't believe it - and, what is more, she is more than willing to exploit an untrue version of events for personal gain.

What worries me is that my sister will often make comments in public fora (particularly social media) about me being a sibling-destroyer. Fortunately, most of my friends are sane and know me well enough to laugh at this behaviour. But it irks me and is a constant reminder of the pain of the past.

What to do?

OP posts:
queenoftheknight · 16/06/2015 14:59

Look in the mirror, and say, "I love you".

This is almost impossible at first, but keep at it.

Fuzzyfelt123 · 16/06/2015 18:07

Cuckoo
' no prospects, no friends, no hope'.
Really? don't want to sound like I'm sucking up but your posts on here and on other threads are amongst the most articulate and insightful that I've read on Mumsnet. And there are a lot of v clever and wise women on here!
I think proper therapy and NC would enable you to properly be the brilliant woman you clearly show yourself to be in your posts. Don't let your awful 'family' define you for a moment longer. Flowers

DeckSwabber · 16/06/2015 21:44

To go back to the beginning of the thread .... 'regifting' is fucking genius.

Atenco · 17/06/2015 00:30

Really? don't want to sound like I'm sucking up but your posts on here and on other threads are amongst the most articulate and insightful that I've read on Mumsnet. And there are a lot of v clever and wise women on here!

It really is important to praise yourself and learn not to let yourself think negatively about yourself.

cuckoosyndrome · 17/06/2015 08:35

Thank you fuzzy. I seem to have something in my eye. Flowers

I don't love or even like myself, but I do have some residual confidence in my ability to do things. However, the real root of the issue is that I don't have faith in my ability to make others see that ability. In fact, I don't even have faith in others recognising me as a person. The problem is almost entirely one of a social nature, in the sense that it's about the way I relate to other people, and to the systems the world has in place for reward (jobs, institutions etc). I am terrified of sticking my head up above the parapet - not because I think I will be shot at, but because I think I'll be ignored. I'll have poured my heart and soul into something and once again, I'll be denied!

I realise that this is completely ridiculous. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: I worry about being rejected and isolated and about failing, so I isolate myself and don't make any effort in order to pre-empt that pain, maybe to feel like I have some control over it. I mean, honestly, it is the very definition of self-defeating behaviour!

I also know that this is absolutely a result of negative and anxious thought patterns that are closely related to everything that happened when I was a child. As a teen, I rebelled against the abuse and ended up running away and being homeless for some time. So I have a mentality where my identity is tied up in being some kind of social outcast, and I do not really believe that I can be accepted. And that - as so many of you have wisely said - it is something I can unlearn.

Once I've finished this course of CBT, which is really not helping me, I am going to sign up with a therapist.

Thank you all so very much for taking the time to comment. It has helped.

OP posts:
Lottapianos · 17/06/2015 12:18

cuckoo, when you do fancy signing up to see a therapist, look for the BACP website (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) - you can find someone in your area who is properly qualified psychotherapist.

Christophewouldgetit · 17/06/2015 12:40

Queen - such wise words:
it was defending him against them that really kick started my process. There was NO WAY they were going to do to him what they had done to me.....and at that point, I didn't even know it was them! It was instinctive and deep, an animal desire to protect my baby.

Thank you for posting that - I had no idea why I felt the way I did until my family started treating my DD so very differently to my DS (which was the dynamic in my childhood) and I suddenly woke up! It wasn't as traumatic as some of the stories posted here and on the Stately Homes Thread but made me realise that it wasn't me, it was them.

Best of luck Cuckoo - you definitely deserve so much more than life has given you so far.. and you will get there Flowers

goldenrose · 17/06/2015 20:41

Best of luck cuckooFlowers It's hard and you will have good days and bad days but it does get better!! I have days now where I smile to myself remembering some of the s**t I had to listen to or the stuff I did for my family because I am only now realising how messed up the are and it's not me!! I still have days where I feel really sad and emotional especially when I see friends with their families or even something on tv to do with a family, but I have my own family now and another on the way Smile and I will make sure my children feel loved and secure, and there is plenty of hugs and kisses going round something I never knew!!
I remember one day when I was about 10 going off for a few days to visit my granny and DM gave me a kiss goodbye ( only because my aunt was watching) and I froze I didn't know how to react I was in shock this was alien to meSad my aunt must have coped it because she said to me in the car that my mother did love me she just found it hard to show it,
I think that was the only time I remember getting a hug from dm! I spent years trying to be worthy of her love and df and only in the last 6 months I realise it's a losing battleSad
I remember a night (after Christmas and when I finally realised I needed to back away ) when dh was gone out with friends and my dd was in her dad's that I sat down with a bottle of wine and a notebook and I wrote down all that I achieved on my own and all the good things in my life and all I had to be proud of (there was lots of tears) and in moments of self doubt I take out this list and have a quick read to pick myself up againWink

Mike2 · 10/12/2018 10:37

Hi unfortunately I've had to put up with a cookoo sister for many years. In 2016 enough was enough and I made a stand. I've told my parents that I only wish to see them when she's not there. As she is unemployed, this is most of the time.

I'm 45 she is 41. I sincerely wish things where different. The thing is my parents are swept up with her emotional blackmail. She has them overly involved in all aspects of her life. They are both elderly, and in poor health. At 41 years old she need to manage her own affairs.

In 2015 I met the love of my life, and the usual pattern of behavior, continued with her. Trying to create conflict between people, I use the analogy tossing in a hand grenade, and sitting back to watch the carnage. She is cleverly passive aggressive, and a master manipulator. She conjours up a situation, where the only way to deal with it is directly. Which could be seen as aggressive, then she plays the victim.

When I asked her why she never gets along with any woman I form a (meaningful) relationship with. Her response was I'm just trying to help!!! Anyway my advice would be to anyone, cut these toxic people from your life. Your relationship's you choose to be involved in will be far better, as a result.

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