this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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Dad for a Minute

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Hi dad, unfortunately my biological dad doesn't offer me his support, so I write here.

I am 26 years old and I am living with my parents but I really wish I had the energies to move out. My parents are physically abusive towards one another, my mother suffers from schizophrenia and thinks everyone hates her, uses me as a punchbag for her emotions and criticizes all of my choices. My father cheats on her and is emotionally unavailable for me. If I were a normal person I'd just head out of here, but unfortunately "normal" I am not as I myself suffer from diagnosed general (and quite strong) anxiety and I think some depression as well and everything seems so difficult for me.

I also feel really ashamed for having failed college, sometimes I even feel 'stupid' because of it. Now I’m working as an unskilled employee, and it makes me afraid to move out because I constantly worry: will I be able to find another job?

On top of that, I feel a lot of pressure at work. I’m the only one who can maintain and develop the company’s software. While we have other team members, like an AI prompt engineer, a backup engineer, several people in sales, and a graphic designer, I’m the only actual developer. My colleagues have told me that if I left it would be very difficult for them to keep things running, and some even said they'd have to quit too. That kind of responsibility weighs heavily on me.

I'd also love to go back at college but time is running up before I lose the credits I acquired. But I don't know how I could study while also maintaining myself with a full time job.

Sorry dad for pouring all that on you. I really don't know what to do and I feel really lost. A hug would be more than enough.

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[–] lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Hey,

Don’t stress about college. I dropped out when i was 20. I went back when i was 24 and dropped out again. I went to tech school for 2 years just to get a job and then wound up quitting that job after a couple of years. I went back to college and became a teacher - this time i got 2 degrees. i taught for 3 years and HATED it. I went back one more time and got a masters. Part way through i hit the maximum for student loans and my wife supported me for a year. The job i have now is not perfect but it is sooooo much better than the jobs i hated. You don’t have to screw up as much as i did (it was expensive), but i am now very successful. You are doing fine.

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