Physical & Emotional Abuse Support Group

I've been emotionally abused by my bipolar aunt. She would call me retarded when I cooked dinner for her and asked if she realized she handed me two different flavored packages. She would call me a fat cow (and here, her stomach hangs below her groin, the hypocrite). Then she would turn around and act super nice and apologize and somehow I would feel guilty for being so mad at her.
Eventually, she tried to have me arrested when I gave 30 days notice, claiming that I beat her. thankfully, my cousin was pretending to be asleep on the living room couch during said incident, and was able to tell the police the truth. she was arrested for domestic harassment, falsifying a police report, and probation violation.

I have another aunt. a good aunt. this aunt (aunt 2 henceforth) took me in when I was 14/15. She and her husband clothed me and fed me and put up with me when I screwed up.

We became, if anything, more emotionally distant when they became my kinship parents (foster care for family). Furthermore her husband often says very cruel things like "you have no friends" and jokes about how much he wished I'd die.

the thing is, the guy really isn't intending to be mean. He treats everyone this way, and he does care for my well being. I'm not joking, he treats EVERYONE this way, except my aunt (aunt 2). He says he is "people-ist". His "true" intentions to people tends to come out when he's drunk- he becomes super nice and thoughtful. We generally try to stay out of each-other's way when in the house. I'm 22, and plan to move out soon, but I've been living with them on and off since I was a teenager.

Nonetheless, every hurtful thing he says causes another crack in my confidence. After-all, he is for all intents and purposes my father.

So what do you do when you are being emotionally abused, by someone who isn't intending to be emotionally abusive. By someone who isn't manipulative, like my first aunt was, but rather a constant dourness?
Posted on 08/03/12, 01:31 pm