🎠What it means to have grown up with a sibling who had severe mental health disorders
Growing up with a sibling who had severe mental health disorders meant becoming the "other" child - watching your parents pour their energy into crisis management while you learned to be the easy one who didn't need anything.
You may have learned to measure your worth by how little trouble you caused, becoming exceptionally self-sufficient while your sibling's needs dominated family resources and attention. You watched your parents navigate impossible situations with hospital visits, therapy appointments, and behavioral crises, understanding that their survival depended on you being the stable, uncomplicated child who could handle things on your own.
You may have developed a complex relationship with your own needs and emotions, learning to postpone or minimize them in favor of family stability. The constant comparison between you and your struggling sibling may have left you feeling guilty for your health, success, or happiness, while simultaneously carrying the pressure to excel as proof that your family could produce something good.