My family treats me like I’m mentally ill. How can I deal with this?

I guess while this applies to my whole family, I’m mainly talking about my mom. I’m a teenager and a couple months ago, before a routine general check-up with my doctor, I told my mom I’d been hallucinating and asked her opinion on whether or not I should tell the doctors. We agreed to forget about it for a while and take action in a couple weeks.

At this point it’s been several months. My family hasn’t tried to get me help, and they’ve all had mixed reactions. My mom has essentially been really open and cruel about thinking I’m crazy. Something small will come up, a couple times I’ve slipped up and asked about things that they couldn’t see/hear, and she’ll look completely disgusted with me.

I’ve asked my dad about his side of the family (he had a schizoaffective brother) and he said I seemed alright though he didn’t completely deny stuff when I brought up how my brother and mom have talked to me.

My mom’s said to my face that I’m mentally ill, crazy, hears voices, days away from suicide, etc, etc...

How do I deal with this? I know just off what I’ve put here, I don’t sound super normal, and this is only the information my family knows about. I’ve been though more stuff on top of it, but don’t mention it to them.

Even when I feel mature and mostly healthy, they’re always making me wonder if I’m just lying to myself and it’s really obvious that I’m sick.

Hello Hcll: I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to Psych Central.

I'm sorry you are having such a difficult time. Hopefully coming here to PC can be of some comfort & support. You mentioned you're a teen. So I presume you're under 18. If your parents won't help you to get the mental health treatment you need, another thing that occurs to me would be to talk with someone at whatever school you attend. This might be a school counselor if there is one or perhaps a trusted teacher.

Beyond that, if there are other family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) you could approach that might be an option too. And one other idea would be to contact your local office of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) & see if there is any help they can offer. You could, of course, too talk with whatever doctor you see for regular medical care.

From what you wrote, it sounds to me as though what you're going to need to do it to find an adult who is willing to speak to your parents on your behalf. And so, assuming that is the case, it's a matter of finding someone who is willing & able to do that. Perhaps other PC members will have other suggestions.

Here's a link to an article, from Psych Central's archives, that (hopefully) may be of some small help:

Teens: Coping with Being Unwanted, Unloved and Unhappy

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

I’m sorry your parents aren’t reacting as you would like and get you some help.

I’m not sure of your age but if your still in school you can always talk to your guidance counselor, it’s a good place to start.

If your out of school most areas have a county mental health office and have a sliding scale for visits.

Sometimes we just have to be proactive and push for help.

Welcome to PC

I agree with the posts above that it would be a good plan to speak to a responsible and trusted adult at school.

I'm very sorry that your mother is acting in such a manner. Often people become anxious or afraid when something unusual presents itself. They react in anger in or other inappropriate ways so as to defend themselves from their feelings of fear or anxiety.

She should not be making the hurtful remarks that you reported above.

Please be aware that on this web site there are many caring individuals who will treat you with respect and are willing to help you in any way that they can. Besides this relationships forum, you might be interested in particular in the schizophrenia and psychosis forum.

I hope that you will continue to post here!

Welcome to pc

Let me assure you that you are not mentally ill or crazy. There could be a number of reason why you might be hallucinating that may not be link to a mental illness. Is there a counselor that you could talk to about your hallucinating? It possible that your mom is embarrassed because she worried about what other will think. It probably best not to talk to them about it.