For as long as I (F18) can remember, my father (M57) always used the silent treatment tactic to punish me (or my family) for our supposed wrongs or just to take his frustrations out on me.
I can count on one hand how many times he ignored me for days because I did something wrong (like taking too long to get ready in the morning or not getting him smth for valentines) but I’d need a lot of hands to count the times where he ignored me and I didn’t know what I did wrong.
It’s honestly so draining and tiring to constantly guess if he’s mad or not. When he shuts the door a little too hard on a random day, I try to remember everything I did that might have pissed him off.
If my mother were to ask him what made him angry, he’d simply say he wasn’t. With that being said, I inwardly told myself that ‘oh if he’s really not mad then I’m not going to act as if I did anything wrong’ but when it comes down to it, I’m afraid of taking up space in the room so I shrink and shut up.
I wanna take the IDGAF approach bc i rlly didnt do anything wrong but it’s very hard to do and to think I have 4 yrs or more of being stuck under the same roof as him makes me want to genuinely give up :((
So i want to ask for advice or anything that can help me stop cowering w my tail between my legs when this happens because I’m really tired at this point and I want to focus on being good at school so i can get the hell away from this house but i doubt i can when i get so stressed out when he’s like this no matter how much I tell myself not to
TLDR: My father gives me the silent treatment and it’s genuinely making my mind go to dark places and I need advice since I’m entering college in a few weeks and I need to focus so I can start supporting myself.
Comments
Look at what resources are available at your school. Many universities provide free or low cost services for students. If you can’t get away from home yet, then I think the best thing would be to learn some methods for maintaining your mental health in the situation and psychologists are likely your best bet.