Is this normal or narcissistic behavior from a mother

Long story short...

My mother has always been very overbearing and very overprotective. I was not allowed to go out and do things that were normal for my age and, unless I snuck around, could only have the friends she essentially "chooses". She would yell often and very loudly.

Example:

Mom - go clean up the dog poop

Me - alright

Mom - when are you going to do it?? (starting to get loud)

Me - In a second I have to finish this

Mom - Do it NOW! (yelling at this point. I get mad and my voice raises as well but not nearly as much, trust me.) (also when she would say "now" it was very unsettling. Like... very threatening. With the look and tone that she will make me pay.)

Me - Alright! Calm down!

Mom - "GO PICK UP THE DOG SHIT!!!" (Literally screaming at the top of her lungs.)

Me - No. I'm not going to be treated like this.

Mom - "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE"

This situation was very common. I was threatened to be kicked out almost on a monthly basis.

This type of thing was normal, as I said, and a few additional angles she would use were...

"You're mentally ill" (I have had many friends and their parents say I'm not and do everything they can to help me. Now that I look back it was clear they were trying to help get out of that abusive house)

Illness she claims I've had at various times...

Antisocial personality
Bipolar
Schizophrenia
Dementia...wtf
Autism

There are more but and even today I question my sanity, but I digress..

I was often told how ungrateful I am and how lucky I am to have a home. If I ever expressed my feelings in a way she didn't agree with, or if I asked to be treated nicer she would tell me I make things up or some other way of blaming me for her actions.

She would boss me around with EVERYTHING. Literally, If I so much as started looking in the fridge for food, she would say "clean up after yourself."

If I said in as nice a way as I could (because It was constant bossing me around) "Can you ask me instead of telling me all the time?" She would yell "JUST TO IT." At that point, If I so much as said one word in my favor, I would be told "GET OUT." and it would become a huge fiasco of me getting kicked out. Usually when this would happen I would just stay in my room.

Btw - my room is permanently locked so I can't enter the house without permission.

As I said earlier, I had and still have a drug and alcohol problem. The closest I got to recovery was when I was in rehab a few states away from her. I had been there for a week when she called and said she's coming to get me. I said no.

The next day she landed in a plane to come to the rehab. She made a huge deal and cried to me that I'm breaking her heart. The rehab is a cult. She cried and cried and begged me to come back. I couldn't take seeing her cry so I caved.

This was another common pattern. She would say mean things about how ungrateful, lazy, immature, and so on until I actually got some independence (like when I got an apartment.) Then she would manipulate me into coming back.

A similar thing happened when I would my first car. I quit my job and she made me sign my car over to her or I would be homeless.

Did I mention that how I ended up at the rehab was a be homeless ultimatum as well? And then she did the whole crying thing. Very strange.

It's like... she's nice and affectionate to me for a while, but then when she get's bored or stressed she is really mean.

I have literally NEVER heard her apologize in my life.

One last thing. When my dad goes out of town (for business) she let's me in the house (usually I don't get to go in the house very much). But she lets me in and is all nice and fun. But she talks really badabout my dad. Like how she thinks he cheats, to how she thinks he's gay, to insinuating that he might have molested me and I just don't remember.

(Another common theme. She assumed everybody molested me. My grandpa and I used to go fishing all the time. He even took me to alaska once. I loved him very much. But then my mom decided he molested me and never let me see him again. Even though I said it wasn't true, she told me I just don't remember.)

But continuing about my dad. She would talk mad shit about him blah blah blah. Then when he got back in town. I was kicked back out like a filthy dog. She would go back to taking her stress and anger out on me and such.

Now I'm 23 years old. I don't have a car so I ride my bike when I have a job (usually a ten mile trip each way, often it rains.) But then I quit because it seems so futile. I've moved so much (11 times) that I don't know anybody. I have no motivating factor like... "I can work hard and be independent. I will have friends and love." But the only person I'm comfortable around is my mom. Weird I know.

She is all I have, yet she is also the cause of a lot of pain.

So, I'm 23 years old, have no car, live in a room on my parents property. I'm sitting in my room, it makes me feel so shitty. Sometimes I get hungry and I want food or water really bad. Or even just to see one of the dogs because I get kinda lonely. But I'm always locked out. I hate it. It makes me feel so shitty. Like I'm subhuman.

It feels good to get that off my chest. I'm just starting to realize how manipulated I've been for so long. It feels like I've been my mom's toy. Like I'm there to make her feel better and lucky to have her ever want to receive my attention.

But anyways... does this sound like narcissism? I read a bit about it and it seems like there is something to it. I also have a hard time being able to tell because I'm never sure if I'm a little bit crazy or mentally handicapped in someway that I'm not understanding properly.

Voting Results
16% Normal
Based on 31 votes (5 yes)
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Comments ( 22 )
  • victorygin

    "I had and still have a drug and alcohol problem" - Yeah, no shit. Anyone would...

    Sounds like you're aware how toxic/crazy/twisted/manipulative she is - maybe writing the post even brought it more into consciousness. So it's not like you don't realize. And I think that's pretty much the only thing that can keep you from getting too affected by it... being aware that she's crazy, so try not to let it affect you too much. But it will anyway, until you can get away...which you should do.

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  • _Crusades

    "long story short"

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    • CowboySaiyan

      Haha, yea. That kinda went out the window. I've never talked to anybody about this so I guess it all just came out.

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  • Inсоmplet

    You tried counselling?

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  • flyingnostalgia

    This how moms are, those who may have some anger issues. But i wont say it is abnormal.

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  • Couman

    Don't take this the wrong way, but this sounds like a *classic* abusive relationship, except she's your mother instead of your bf/gf.

    I'm not sure how much narcissism has to do with it though. I would simply describe her as a controlling asshole.

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    • CowboySaiyan

      Yea! Exactly. It's so weird. I usually think about it as it feels like she's my sister but yea... I can see how you say that. That's weird though

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    • snarkygirl

      Mommy dearest

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  • Lonely2

    Its hard to evaluate anything from one side of the story....maybe she would say youre passive aggressive or oppositional defiant....the most telling is do you love her and did you feel loved?

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    • CowboySaiyan

      Yea, I figured as much, in terms of you can't really tell with one side of the story.

      Of course I love her. She's my mom.

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      • Lonely2

        What do you love about her?

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  • Ellenna

    You need to get away, far far away, and get yourself some good counselling. Ignore gypsysailor's nasty response, just keep reminding yourself that you deserve better and that no-one can change your life for the better except you, but with help

    I honestly don't know if she's narcisstic or what, but she certainly sounds nastily manipulative and impossible to live with in peace

    Good luck!

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  • thegypsysailor

    After how many of these incidents would a normal person know exactly how things were going to progress, if you didn't do as she asked immediately? Wouldn't life be so much easier for BOTH of you if you'd just say, "Yes, mom." and go and clean up the damn dog shit?
    I don't get how this sort of thing can go on for YEARS and YEARS and yet someone like you complains about it, as if none of it is YOUR fault.
    You are 23 years old! You must like these exchanges or you would have figured out long ago how to live with this woman in peace!

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    • Ellenna

      There are so many things wrong with your response that I'm not sure where to start ....

      OK: he's not going to be normal if he's grown up with a mother like that and what sort of parent demands instant obedience at all times with the penalty for disobeying being kicked out of home? Families aren't supposed to be mini-fascist states.

      It seems clear to me that he has tried to live in peace with her but that she's the abnormal manipulative one in this scenario and has beaten him down so much over the years it's hard for him to escape. He has tried to do so but she manipulates him into returning.

      I suppose you'll call your response "tough love" as you've described similar ones in the past: tough yes, love is nowhere to be seen either in your response or this poor bloke's family

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      • thegypsysailor

        Why would anyone stand up to someone they know is going to go apeshit if they do, in a domestic situation? Ego? Pride? There is no plus in it.
        This is a very sick TWO sided relationship, obviously. But he can't blame her for everything as at this point he is equally responsible because he knows exactly how she will respond to whatever he chooses to do.
        Moving out permanently is his ONLY chance for any kind of normal life, but he will probably require years of therapy..

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        • Ellenna

          He's not equally responsible, how could he be when he's the child (albeit an adult one) and she's the parent who set up this dynamic and has perpetuated it all his life? Unless you know something I don't, there are no magic wands available to people stuck in oppressive personal relationships and he has the least power in the situation and needs support to get out and move on. He's courageous to be even questioning it and trying to get away and I hope next time he's successful.

          I do agree with your last sentence

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          • CowboySaiyan

            Thanks. Gypsy is right in a way, it takes two to tango. Thanks for your responses though, they've been helpful.

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    • CowboySaiyan

      That was when I was like 13. And like I've said, I've moved out many times and she always spirals and get's strange and needy. She cries and begs me to come back and I can't take seeing her upset so I cave.

      You can't live in peace with someone who takes out their anger on you. It doesn't matter if I do as I'm told or I stand up for myself because she wants two things from me.

      An emotional punching bag
      And someone to care about her.

      I take it from your answer you have absolutely no background in mental health. She comes from generations of mental illness and abuse.

      The biggest thing that bothers me is how, for so long, she painted my dad as a terrible person who was the cause of her pain. This caused a lot of distance between us. I'm only now realizing that she's mentally unstable. My dad is actually a really good man.

      I don't appreciate your condescending response either. I do my best to do what's right. It's hard to know the line between standing up for yourself and getting emotionally abused. If you grew up moving all the time and had, for the most part, one reference and that reference told you all your life that you're worthless without her, it would affect you too.

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      • thegypsysailor

        I think your time would be much better spent listening, than defending yourself. You obviously came here for input, and when you get it you get all upset by the way it was delivered.
        By the way, I left my crazy person at 15 and never looked back.
        There seems to be a good possibility you need this relationship every bit as much as she does.
        You may love your mother very much, but IMO this codependent relationship isn't good for either one of you.
        Get angry if you want, but when you air things on a public forum, you can't expect EVERYONE to say what you want to hear.

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        • CowboySaiyan

          I wouldn't say I'm angry. If anything it seems like you're being hostile. So... I'm not sure what to tell you in terms of that...

          I do spend a fair amount of time listening. I actually don't talk much in general. There is only so far I can be pushed though. And yes, I do need her as much as she needs me. Probably more. That's kind of the whole point, I feel stuck.

          I certainly don't expect everyone to say what I want to hear lol. I wasn't born yesterday. I do think you're a bit insecure though, I don't see any other reason you would act so emotional about something that isn't at all personal to you.

          Relax...

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          • thegypsysailor

            You, of all people, trying to psychoanalyze me, that's the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard. Bye bye now, and enjoy livin in your nut house.

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            • CowboySaiyan

              Lol. It takes one to know one.

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