She, like, really hardcore about it. But like any Christian, she bends the rules of the Bible and other religious works so that it works for her lifestyle. She's also seriously bi-polar.
Anyway, she's pretty much tolerant of most things except for the fact that I'm an Atheist. This happened back in January:
I had told her I was an atheist. (I think she always suspected but I never actually said anything.) She was sad for the first few days but seemed fine and didn't bother me about it.
Then a few days later she posts this on facebook: "My daughter's an atheist. fml". After receiving numerous comments from religious and non-religious friends about how she should simply accept my decision, she started going into a manic. She then posted the following:
"ALL MY ATHEIST FRIENDS DELETE ME. I DON'T WANT YOU IN MY LIFE ANYMORE".
Despite everyone's pleas for her to understand that she was being utterly irrational, she would not accept it. She would simply respond "I don't want those kind of people in my life anymore. Look what they've done to my daughter!" It made me so embarrassed and SO mad that she was treating people that way.
I understand bi-polar can sometimes spiral out of control. But my mom is CONSTANTLY having manics and I believe she uses them as I crutch to make excuses for intolerable behavior.
Anyway, at that point I deleted her from facebook and stopped talking to her. We've had this on-off relationship all of my life and I just couldn't handle it (again.) at that point. A few days after that she asked me if we could talk again. I told her I honestly was not comfortable.
I know I should be an understanding daughter, but like I said, she uses the bi-polar as a crutch. I don't want to deal with this anymore and I told her I was just not interested in speaking to her for now. She started getting upset and preachy again so I blocked her.
About a month later I receive a call from my grandmother stating that my mom tried to commit suicide. She cut her wrists, very deep. There was blood everywhere. She was rushed to the hospital and once in stable condition, taken to a rehabilitation center in another city.
I was worried of course. But as mean as it sounds, I didn't want to call and talk to her. Again, apart of me was angry and embarrassed by her behavior. The woman is 50 years old and I'm 23, yet she makes me feel like I'm the parent. I called my grandmother every few days to see about her condition, but I never talked to her.
I guess they let her out of the hospital because I received a call from her the other day. She left a voicemail saying she wanted to talk to me. I really don't want to talk to her. But at the same time I feel guilty, since I was probably the reason for her suicide attempt. What should I do?
In case any of you have been on Y!A for a long period of time, her username was Frenzy. I believe she was very popular in the section a few years back.
Answer on Atheists, my Christian mom is totally insane!?
First off, I'm very sorry you're in this situation.
Second, as a therapist, I can tell you you are doing nothing wrong. You are a free thinker, your mom doesn't need redemption by Jesus, she needs to be redeemed by medication. I think it's very important to have her temporarily commited; You can't be there 24/7, you need to keep your OWN sanity!! It's not being selfish, it's the best you can do. Once she's fit to be left alone again, maybe she'll be in her right mind to be able to reach a concensus with you. She did it before she went into manic, she should be able to do so again, she just needs a lot of help and can't sort herself out. As for you, you can't feel guilty over what she does to herself. She's not sound right now, and severe bipolar folk have a tendency to want to make people feel guilty. They know they can't control their own lives so the best way to feel they have control over something at all is to hurt themselves and use this behaviour as blackmail.
hardline religion and mental illness do... not... mix!!! I had someone tell me the oter day the following words: If Jesus could raise people from the dead, do you think he can't cure you?? I replied: According to your scripts, didn't God say, "help yourself and I will help you"?
SHe needs help. Your religion or lack thereof has NOTHING to do with your mom's behaviour.
