Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I fully support people have boundaries and even no contact with toxic people. But, I also feel like there are people that are frustrating and annoying in our families that we cut off too quickly and it doesn’t do anyone any good given the epidemic of loneliness we have in this country.
Do you know every detail of cutoffs? I don't know anyone who didn't spend years trying to make things work, even trying therapy to get new strategies. Do you feel the same way about divorce? Is there an actual epidemic of loneliness proven through research or was that just a catchy news heading? I know for me the fact I married a loving husband and had good friends and kids I adored was what kept me alive, but the emotional and verbal abuse from my mother made me have passive death wishes. It made me physically ill. If you met her, you would never believe those demons lived inside of her and you would assume I distanced over something that was not a big deal.
Well, I certainly think some people on this site jump to cutting off contact over things like a MIL criticizing decorating choices or introvert relatives who don’t talk or ask about the grandkids much — which seems like quite an overreaction to me. There also seems to be a large number of young adult voices on TikTok, etc, complaining about their terrible childhoods and wanting to go no contact with their parents over things that don’t actually sound particularly harmful. And yes, there are real research studies about the social disconnection happening today.
But of course, the vast majority of people don’t go no contact without just cause. My sister cut our entire family off (parents and siblings) for years. While hurtful (because I think this is more about our parents than it is me and my sister), I wish her well. My sister and I are very low contact with our father (mom is dead now). We have plenty of justification to cut him off entirely, but we both have chosen to manage the situation through limited contact.
I’m not actually judging anyone who goes no contact. But I think people online jump to giving “no contact” advice that might be more extreme than necessary in some situations.
I’m sorry your mom was abusive and I’m glad you have found some peace.