Men of reddit, how have your parents fucked you up?

  • Was molested as a child on two occasions (too young to remember) and my mom would bring it up to discredit my masculinity whenever she got really angry with me.
  • Dad was in and out of my life and never taught the basics of manhood: how to approach or talk to women, how to navigate conflicts with other men, and etc.
  • Affection from parents was so rare that whenever they "did" show it, it felt disingenuous and pacifying.
  • I never had a birthday celebration, sleepover or was ever allowed to bring friends to our home.
  • I recently counted most of the homes I lived in while with my mom (prior to foster care of course) and turns out that we moved an avg of every two years, so I don't have a real geographic home/community.

How did all of this fuck me up? I have extreme self esteem issues, I'm pretty bad with women, and I developed a noticeably low sense of empathy. I haven't been diagnosed with a personality disorder, but I wouldn't know if I truly had one because my therapist and I had an inappropriately intimate relationship and I haven't had one since her.

/r/AskMen Thread