u/Chemical-Store628

I usually don’t cry as many people do when they feel sad, abandoned, even when getting in a heated arguments etc. BUT if I had a shit day and someone starts going crazy at me like swearing and insulting me i break down.

Not in the way that i am on the floor crying but tears run down my face and i blush badly.

I am curios how do you guys react? Do you cry in those situations when you feel like shit or you can get over them?

I'm 18 years old, and sometimes it feels like my family is falling apart right in front of me.

My parents stopped talking to each other years ago, even though they still live in the same house. Every conversation turns into an argument, and I've spent so much of my life listening to shouting through thin walls that silence now feels strange. My dad works long hours and is rarely home, and when he is, he seems exhausted and distant. My mom carries the weight of everything and often takes her stress out on the people around her.

Money has always been tight. I've watched my parents worry over bills and make sacrifices they never talked about openly. Sometimes I felt guilty for needing things that other teenagers seemed to get without a second thought.

As the oldest child, I became the "responsible one." I helped take care of my younger siblings, managed household chores, and tried to keep the peace whenever tensions rose. While my friends were enjoying their teenage years, I often felt more like a parent than a daughter.

The hardest part wasn't the arguments or the financial struggles—it was feeling alone. I didn't want to burden my friends, and I didn't think anyone would really understand. I learned to hide my feelings behind a smile, telling everyone I was fine when I wasn't.

Now that I'm 18, I'm standing at the edge of adulthood, carrying years of stress, sadness, and uncertainty. I love my family, but sometimes I wonder who I could have been if I hadn't spent so much energy trying to hold everyone else together.

How can I stop feeling responsible for holding my family together and start focusing on my own future without feeling guilty?

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