My mother is using my phobia to steal my money for a second time. I feel completely helpless.
I (45m) have had agoraphobia since I can remember. I was extremely shy and quiet and gentle and kind...and we all know how people like that get treated. I was bullied endlessly to the point I started going bald at 14 and was completely bald by 16 (due to the stress and anger I felt every day). The fear I felt leaving the house every day to go endure the nightmare at school, and then the relief I felt when I got home, it broke me after experiencing it 1000's of times over and over all those years. Even when I wasn't in school, I would sometimes run into bullies...eventually I just became scared every time I left the house. I eventually dropped out in 1998 and lived a life a isolation. No girlfriends or relationships, aside from 1 friend I met through a radio event. I lived with my mom my whole adult life, and she saw my phobia first hand for decades. I would spend the next 20 years dirt poor, living with endless depression and anxiety and working as little as possible to pay bills and live in comfort, when suddenly in January of 2016, we receive an inheritance in a portfolio earning $50k-$100k a year in interest. I was promised 1/3rd, and was very happy about that.
We paid off the remaining loan on the house so my monthly bills were very low without a mortgage to pay into, and I went full hermit mode just living off the interest (at the time I spent around $6k a year while earing almost $20k interest). I didn't leave my house for 3 years (aside from doctor appointments once or twice a year)...it was the most amazing experience I have ever...experienced. My depression went away and I felt happy every day. This only lasted 3 years however, because in November 2018, I found out my mother gambled away 90% of the money, even the 1/3rd that belonged to me...you see, she had control of the portfolio because I certainly wasn't going to talk to any of the people in charge of it. She was my mother and I trusted her, I had no idea she was a gambling junkie...
So I was plunged back into this agoraphobic nightmare once again, only this time it was much worse...My depression and stress came back in a horrible way as I started searching for work, and I developed insomnia problems (something I had never had before)...so 7 years go by as I suffer endless ruminating thoughts constantly thinking about that money and missing those years that I was happy. Then in 2025, my mother tells me she is evicting me, and that I will not be getting my half of the house after it sells. I spent months arguing with her and recording all the arguments, and there were a few times I caught her on tape admitting to owing me the money. The house sold in December 2025, but I have not received my money yet. I moved to my grandmothers house to take care of her (she is on hospice) until I find a permanent place to live.
It has been 6 months since the house sold, and my mother has cut off communication with me. I don't know where she is living, and I do not have her phone number. She knows I have no paper trail for the money she owes me, and she is convinced I do not have the energy to get a lawyer and take her to court because of my sub conscious self imprisonment issues. She was right. It has been 6 months and I have sat around and done nothing. I am pathetic...however, 2 weeks ago I started calling lawyers. After telling my story to about 20 of them, I see now it was always hopeless anyway because no one will take my case. My mother owes me $64,000 (which is nothing compared to what she gambled away all those years ago) and she has just gone and taken it from me and left me with so much anger once again. I could start my life over with that money, but instead she has to take even the last little bit of that amazing dream I had. All I know anymore, is anger and pain. Every moment I am awake and conscious, is nothing but suffering because of my selfish junkie mother. I wish I could do something. I wish there was an organization that could help me sue her or help me find a lawyer. How am I suppose to go on with this endless rage inside?