abandonment

Artwork: Tess Emily Rodriguez

Ask Erin: I Have Abandonment Issues

Do people ever recover from abandonment issues? Life looks very long and very lonely from where I'm standing right now.

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"My anger was there when my father wasn’t. My anger has been reliable. Sometimes it feels like my anger taught me all the things my father should have."

Learning About My Father's Personality Disorder Helped Me Forgive Him

I have to accept the fact that Black men are not allowed to deal with their mental health issues — specifically personality and schizoaffective disorders. The man I considered a deadbeat dad for most of my life is a victim too.

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"My anger was there when my father wasn’t. My anger has been reliable. Sometimes it feels like my anger taught me all the things my father should have."

Learning About My Father's Personality Disorder Helped Me Forgive Him

I have to accept the fact that Black men are not allowed to deal with their mental health issues — specifically personality and schizoaffective disorders. The man I considered a deadbeat dad for most of my life is a victim too.

Read...
I was consistently pondering this emptiness inside me.

Everything I've Learned About Living With Abandonment Issues

I grew up knowing my family always had its very own black cloud. Like a backyard pet that comes and goes when it pleases, a room locked but filled with things we weren’t allowed to look at or set free. And it was all passed down to me like some broken heirloom — my ancestor’s weaknesses and fears, swirled into DNA’s mad ritual. Does the body sometimes take into itself — take from its creators — what it cannot heal from? Sometimes, yes.

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