I’m 21, living with my parents, and terrified of becoming homeless if something happens to them
I’m 21 and living in Canada with my parents. I’m very lucky that they let me live at home and support me, so I don’t pay rent or major living expenses right now. But with the economy and cost of living being what it is, I feel an immense amount of anxiety every day.
This anxiety looms over me all the time. Even when things are technically okay, I feel like I’m constantly waiting for something terrible to happen and for my whole life to collapse overnight.
My biggest fear is that something will happen to one of my parents, especially my dad, and everything stable in my life will disappear in that moment. I pray every day that nothing happens to them, but the fear is always there. It feels like if I lost that support, I wouldn’t just be dealing with grief, I’d also have to figure out how to survive, afford housing, and keep myself afloat, and I honestly don’t know if I could.
I feel guilty even writing this because my fear is tied to losing people I love, not just losing financial security. But both things are connected in my mind, and it makes me feel trapped. I don’t know how to build a life stable enough that I wouldn’t fall apart if something happened.
Has anyone else felt this kind of anxiety while still living at home? How do you start becoming more independent when the cost of living feels impossible, and the fear of losing your safety net is always at the back of your mind?