Sibling Abuse: Help Them, or "Break Up" With Them?

Sibling abuse is a topic that needs to be addressed more. Thank you for this.

When I was little, I thought it was weird to see other siblings open up to and support eachother. Says a lot about my shitty sibling dynamics. :(

Needing to distance/cut from a toxic sibling SUCKS. But, there has to be a line drawn. Your dysfunction is not my problem and I will not tolerate it to my detriment. Family is people that love and care for you. These are the people who deserve loyalty. Relatives share blood. If the love is not there, do NOT feel obligated to stick around.

The worst is when one parent is a narcissist, your older sibling is a narcissist, and you spend your life taking shit from BOTH of them!

When family betrays you and makes you feel dumb all the time, it makes you trust no one..I’m way too sensitive to be in a toxic family

I stopped contact with both my siblings. One was physically abusive to me and the other verbal. It’s made such a huge impact on healing my cptsd!

It’s not so much the sibling abuse, but my parents blaming me for the abuse, not standing up for me when the abuse happened, and forcing me to interact with this sibling despite the abuse.

Thank you for this. Walked away from my brother when my Mom died in 2017. He was my abuser in childhood and walking away was the best decision I made. I swallowed his behavior until my mid 50's . I'm now dealing with the damage done to me and it's compounded by the fact that my parents didn't protect me. Walking away may be the only way to heal. Just because your abuser(s) are "family" doesn't mean you have to tolerate it. If I never see my brother or his family again will be just fine with me.

Sometimes it’s just time to let go - abuse is not ok.

My older sister likes to make me feel ashamed about myself and she would spit in my face and tell me I'm nothing. I never understood why. The emotional and verbal abuse has diminished parts of myself and I've lived an isolated life. I began to suppressed who I am and dimmed my light so she wouldn't target me. I hope I can heal the pain and reverse the psychological damage. 🧡

These dysfunctional & complex sibling relationships deserve to be talked so much more. Thank you so much for this. It gave me a lot to think about.

Sounds like me and my sister. I regret my accidental passive aggressive silences. I never told her how uncomfortable I felt with her drunken calls. Her inappropriate comments. I found her awful, but never said, I avoided her scary agressive outbursts. She bullied me horribly so I stepped back. She thougt we were fine, even close. I never told her anything about my life. She didn't notice. If I opened I knew she would use it at some point and twist it up... Very sad...

It is very difficult to move away from biological family members. We are wired biologically and societally to want closeness with those people we share DNA with. However, when those family members are unhealthy and dysfunctional.., it is in our best interest to not drag ourselves through the mud and suffer. Many times abusive family members would not ever apologize or take responsibility for their behavior. And if you let them they will keep walking all over you and then turn around and say you are the abuser not them. At some point you have to put your happiness and well-being as number one.

I really needed this - had to walk away due to sibling dysfunction and abuse

Sitting at the dinner table with everyone, will always have some kind of odd atmosphere no matter how old we get.

I'm so happy and sad to see that other people have endured sibling abuse too. I'm so glad because I'm not alone.

I stopped talking to my siblings over 3 years ago, and I have a lot more peace in my life now. Idc if someone is related to me or not. If theyre toxic and abusive, theyre gone.

My motto for my older toxic sister & brother: Anything you say can and will be twisted and used against you. I was always happier when they weren't in my life much. The only healthy option for me is to go no contact and not keep getting drawn back into associating with them. Their "love"is all fake & phony.

Oh, yeah! I walked out and I haven't looked back. My sibling is very abusive. I will not endure the bad behavior.

Accountability is such a huge topic. Some people will never be accountable for their actions. Sad.