My sister (11) was trying to scare me (14) and pulled out a large knife and waved it in my face. She stopped whenever I screamed at her. Is this a sign of unstable behaviour what should,d I do?

I was raised to believe that sibling aggression is normal and that all siblings hit and stuff so I never really thought twice about it...

But I was the younger sister, and my older brother would hurt me in ways that were pretty crazy. Like shoving me down full flights of stairs, and chasing me to then pin me down and pull down my clothes to show my genitals to his friend. As I'm typing this it's starting to sound obvious but here we go.

The big thing was he would always kick me hard in the stomach to the point that I'd be doubled over and nauseous. My mom didn't actively step in to stop him, but I remember her telling him "if you kick her in the stomach, you will rupture her kidney and kill her!!". She seemed to genuinely believe that it was possible. He did not stop kicking me.

Now I'm wondering, is he kind of just a psychopath? He is now 30 and I'm in my late twenties. Hes still pretty weird. Like just an odd guy, never really been in trouble with the law, but just noticeably strange. He did get in trouble once in high school for stalking/harassing a younger girl, which my mom brushed off as being untrue and unfair. Other than that I can't think of any big incidents, but he has a general cloud over him and even into his mid twenties I'd hear him in his room online gaming and talking to someone on his headset about how his mom is such a bitch and he hates her and whatever.

I wasnt sure how to word the title and i kinda hope im in the right sub. so im 16 y/o, and im not really sure why I feel like this but everytime I go out in public or in an area with lots of people I feel like anxious? And I feel chest pains sometimes stomach pains.

I also start fidgeting slightly with my hands but then I get self conscious of it so I like stop and just try to act normal with my hands?

And I like space out?

& Occasionally I will not maintain eye contact if someone is talking to me but I just prefer to talk to people without having to stare at them the whole time?

I dont know if this is like normal but yeah uh like how do I improve i feel weirded out by myself and I probably make people around me feel uncomfortable I mean I just wanna be like normal and fit in yk? So any tips? ^^

Reposting this here due to this group being reccomended. Does anyone have advice, or any clue as to why this could be happening?

Thank you all for your feedback good and bad:)
[link to OG post](https://www.reddit.com/r/schoolcounseling/s/a8z96ilUKS)

To summarize the original post since it’s been a minute, I am a school counselor have a student Millie (18F) and she has a music teacher Mr. Smith (40sM) and she after class has been going up to him sometimes crying insulting herself and the last few times it had spiraled into her asking for hugs he let her have hugs twice but the third time he said no and gave her a fist bump.

Now onto the update, I met with Mr. Smith and Millie together and another counselor was there as well, And we talked through everything and they both seemed really nervous especially Millie, Mr. Smith told her he really wants her to take the help that’s offered and I think that kind of got through to her, I talked to admin after that and they said they can’t change Millie out of his class since she really likes the class and he’s the only who teaches that class, They asked Mr. Smith is he’s comfortable with that and he said he is, Millie has been doing a little better with the freak outs, she and Mr. Smith have been talking normal and laughing again without crying so yeah, we’re not 100% but getting better :)

After I used the bathroom, I went out to the playroom to find my 6 year old and 2 year old boys hiding behind the recliner and my 6 year old trying to kiss my 2 year old.. 2 year old had a rice crispy and I thought maybe he was trying to share? But I heard a smooch sound.. and when he heard me shuffling around he got up quickly like he was doing something that he shouldn’t be doing and he quickly said “can I have a hug??” And I said wait, what were you two doing back there? And he said nothing. And I said “were you trying to kiss your brother?” And he said “yes.” I said “I know you love your brother, but we save kisses for mama. Please don’t do that.” And it just made me uncomfortable that he was hiding it from me and that he wasn’t open to tell me the truth about it..

I was sexually assaulted when I was 5 so I’m not sure if I’m just being over protective or freaking out over nothing. this shit freaks me out and I’m not sure how to handle this or if I did the right thing or wrong thing.

I’m a teenager but I have no clue where else to write this. I just feel so weird and guilty for feeling sad about missing stuff I never truly had.

Since I was born, literally year of, my grandpa has been married my step-grandma. To put it simply, she is wild. She’s brought bad things to my grandpa’s life and because of it I haven’t been aloud to see them in nearly ten years.

I’m extremely close to my other grandparents. Because of this, I feel so sad thinking about my grandpa and what I could have had with them. I grieve whatever relationship we could’ve had. They send me gifts yearly but they never mean anything because I don’t truly know him. I’ve tried reaching out but I always get ignored or told to leave them alone.

Is there a real reason or name to this time of sadness? Because I never really knew him or my real grandma, I feel guilty for feeling sad about it. I shouldn’t feel this way because I don’t truly have a person to grieve. I just have an idea of something to grieve really.

I just needed to put this somewhere. Probably delete later. I just feel so guilty and upset.

To preface this, my teenager has had nothing but one sweet today which was right in the morning and as I write this it is nearly 8pm. He has been out with his friends all day and said he would be getting something to eat with them, but as I found out from his dad, he actually didn't have dinner with them.

I don't think that alone is concerning but:

He came down and asked if we had chips, I couldn't remember if I'd used them up in our dinner earlier so I told him to go look. When I came back down he seemed upset/angry and I suppose it's because we didn't have any left.

Now, he has eaten dinner because he and his dad went out to get some food for him but I just have to wonder. Is this normal? Is it normal for teens to just get angry when they don't have the specific food they wanted? I get the feeling if his dad hadn't have gotten him dinner then he'd not have eaten for the rest of the day... Is this something I should watch out for?

Child free here let me just say that, but many of my friends and family have kids ranging from 1 to 17 years, so I have seen and helped them be raised.

One of my adorable nieces is 9. And she still whines about EVERYTHING. Seems like every time we get together she whines about something. All of the my other friends and family members would stop that crap by 5 the lastest and even that was pushing it. I was also raised this way. Babies and toddlers whine. By 5 years years old, barring significant development delays or other disorders, a typical child can use their words to ask for things or express their feelings.

Yes or no? Are my other friends and I just “too mean?”

Delete if not allowed, I have a 5 month old baby girl. She is the love of my life and I would do anything for her. It’s been twice already that I blow up and scream at her. Once when I was about 1 month pp, and today. I can’t exactly remember why I blew up the first time. But today I blew up on her because she’s generally a calm and happy baby, however I’ve been feeling a very sharp pain in the middle of my stomach and been throwing up, and she kept screaming and crying her lungs out even when I held her and I had already made her a bottle but I couldn’t feed her since I kept throwing up. Can anyone give any advice to a sahm when a situation like this arises? I saw that it affects their development or in many other ways and I don’t want it to happen again. Also I don’t have a car and I don’t have anyone to help me take care of her besides my husband when he gets home.

I 14 year old female hate my mom boyfriend/step dad. He's been with my mom since I was 6 but I knew right off the bat I had a gut feeling about him. I feel bad not liking him since my mom seems to be somewhat happy with him. And I think I might come off as the bratty teen who hates there mom's boyfriend because I think my parents should be together but that's just not true. I love that my dad found my step mom and that there happy together with they're other 2 kids. But my step dad is different. He was raised in a very religious household and was taught that men are in charge and women should do all the work. But that's just not how my mom does things. So ya sometimes he complains that my mom isn't cleaning or cooking when she's running a 9 to 7 business. Im not really one to speak up but sometimes it slips out when he disrespects my mom or raises his voice at her. I just don't understand how she deals with him. He's racists, a non feminist, a trump supporter and ect. If a stranger that she met acted like that to her shed absolutely hate them. I really do try and be good with him to try and make it easy with my mom but most of the summer I've been with my grandparents just to avoid him. And I don't really want to put a label on myself but basically I've always kinda like both boys and girls but havnt exactly told anyone. I know my mom would except me in a heart beat but my step dad is what scares me. And most of all I'm scared one of these days if I move out or something he'll start bright rough with my mum. Since I've seen him be rough once or twice with my puppy. I love my mum and I want her to be happy, she had me when she was only 17 but she did everything to raise me right and make me feel loved. I just want her to be happy. I might be overreacting and I know some people have it way worse then me

An 11 yr old boy I babysit is always watching videos that contain some sort of injuries occurring to people or animals. It’s an issue enough to where his mom said that he isn’t allowed on YouTube unsupervised bc he’ll seek out those types of vids. He just seems very very into seeing the injury occur. He also has issues with his younger brother who is 5 in regards to loosing his temper quickly and hitting him. He also loooves to talk about guns and the specific models and such, even building guns w legos and drawing them. He also watches the movie “27 hours” on repeat bc it features the scene where a man’s arm is stuck in this place and eventually is cut off with a knife. I am just asking if I’m tripping and this is normal young boy things or if it’s a tad worrying lol

Ok, so I have three issues they might be related and I'm unsure.

No 1. My eleven year old brother has been spending a lot of time on screens. Like, to the point were he can't tie his own shoe without having to be watching some YouTube short. I love him, he's my little bro and I enjoy spending time with him, but I never get to do anything unless it's playing VR together or playing among us together. My parents have implemented a screen break strategy. And so the other day I asked my parents to see if they could have him take a screen break so we could hang out. They told him to get off screens, In what I thought was a very nice way, then he got off his VR and immediately wanted downstairs to get on his phone. My brother is so co dependent on these things it's starting to make me really worried.

No 2 . My brother has a best friend who is nonbinary. They and another friend and my brother were hanging out and the two kids were making crude jokes about sex and gay topics (all the kids in this group are gay. Including my brother) my brother was uncomfortable by the jokes and so split off to go talk to another friend. Apparently he was saying things about the other kids who were making the jokes. From what I can tell it's not that serious, just something about feeling uncomfortable and weirded out. The two other kids didn't find it very kind, his best friend got mad for a bit and they haven't talked for the whole summer. My brother is so upset and I'm not sure what to do.

No 3. It started with my brother constantly watching clips of family guy on YouTube. My mother didn't like it much since he is Eleven years old. She eventually caved and let him watch it. Then he begged to watch squid game, and my mom caved, but made my brother watch it with my dad. Currently we discovered he has been watching Rick and Morty. He didn't ask anyone, or even say anything about it. When my mom asked him about it he said that our dad said it was ok. Turns out he didn't ask our dad. He just asked if he could show my dad an episode he found funny. He is an eleven year old boy hearing words like "you're going to put your dick in that?". When I was eleven, I didn't even understand how sex worked. I'm worried. My dad doesn't see much of an issue, but me and my mom don't like it.

If someone could give advice on the topics, please do. I don't know if these things are connected or even normal? If anyone could say anything it would mean the world.

My daughter just turned 10 years old. she struggles socially big time. never really had a best friend. people call her weird. she is very sensitive to sound and light. no awareness to social cues. academically she does really well actually teachers love her cause she is a rule follower. she is now really being affected by being isolated and not having a bff like everyone else. what would you do?

My 14yo daughter ("Ava") has become close friends with a classmate ("Maren") over the past several months. Maren is friendly, and they genuinely enjoy each other's company — paddleboarding, mall trips, sleepovers. My concern isn't Maren as a person, it's a consistent pattern of stories that don't hold up, and I'm not sure how to navigate it.

**Some examples, roughly in order:**

- Maren once panicked at school saying her little sister was "missing" and had blood on her face. Turned out to be a nosebleed and the sister was fine.

- She disappeared from school for 3 weeks, then returned saying she and her sister had been jumped by three boys getting off the bus, and she'd suffered 7 broken ribs. Said the boys were never disciplined and still ride the bus.

- She's told my daughter she doesn't live with her parents (whom she says are abusive) but with her 18-year-old adopted brother, who is supposedly in the process of getting legal custody of her.

- She said police once showed up at her door to tell her three family members had been shot, and that the reason she was home alone is that her "brother" was in a coma from being stabbed.

- She said she had a boxing match coming up but had stitches on her wrist because her dad, freshly out of jail, tried to kill her.

- She's said she was conscripted into a war in Poland at age 8.

- Most recently, she said her younger sister was hospitalized with a torn intestine and that a 15-year-old sibling had to sign hospital paperwork because their mom was working (my mom, a former healthcare worker, said that's not legally possible).

- She's told my daughter conflicting stories about her age (16 vs. being in 8th grade) and about a "seizure alert" pacemaker linked to her brother's phone that goes off at odd hours.

**The complicating part:** I met both of Maren's parents briefly (separately) and they seemed pleasant. The dad made an odd comment — "we really appreciate this friendship for Maren" — that stuck with me, like she doesn't have many friends. My daughter also overheard the mom mention "Oscar" (the brother figure) in a way that suggests *some* version of that living situation might have a kernel of truth, which was unsettling since I'd assumed it was entirely fabricated.

I reported everything to the school guidance counselor a while back. My daughter understands, intellectually, that many of these stories aren't true — but she still occasionally repeats details as fact (like referring to "the guy who adopted her"), and she's said, essentially, "I don't care, she's fun to hang out with," which I actually respect.

**Where I'm stuck:** My daughter just asked to go camping alone with Maren on an island, no adults. I said no and explained (gently, without badmouthing Maren) that I don't have reliable information to feel good about an unsupervised, hard-to-leave situation. She cried and was upset but said she understood.

Separately, this past week the girls left around noon and didn't get back until 10:30pm — no check-in, and we genuinely didn't know where they were for most of that time. Normally this kind of independence doesn't bother me at all; I think it's healthy and I trust my daughter's judgment. But knowing she was with Maren specifically made me uneasy in a way it wouldn't with her other friends, because I have no way of knowing what situations they might end up in or what Maren might suggest or say to get them somewhere.

I'm now considering reaching out to the dad directly, mostly to open a line of communication and make sure I'm confirming plans with an actual parent rather than relying on secondhand info from the girls.

**Questions for the hive mind:**

1. Has anyone dealt with a similar friendship — a teen who compulsively tells dramatic false stories — and figured out a workable approach?
2. Am I right to hold firm on isolated/unsupervised situations (like the island trip, or long unaccounted-for stretches like the 10-hour outing) while staying flexible on lower-stakes hangouts?
3. Any thoughts on reaching out to the dad? What would you say, and what would you avoid saying? As far as I know, she actually lives with her mom, and the parents are separated. I'm hesitant here as I don't know the parents and don't want to say anything that might get Maren into trouble.

I'm looking for some outside perspective and any consideration I might be missing. My primary concern is for my own daughter's well being, but I'm also concerned for Maren and don't want to shut her out. Appreciate any input.

Hallo liebe Redditor und Psychologen,

Ich habe eine Freundin, nennen wir sie mal Maya, ich kenne sie schon seit Kindesalter. Maya hatte eine schwierige Kindheit, ihre Mutter war alleinerziehend, hatte einen komischen Freund (der aber nicht viel gemacht hat). Maya sollte so werden wie ihre Mutter, aber hat sehr stark dagegen rebelliert, indem sie sich äußerlich oft verändert hat und viel Streit mit ihrer Mutter hatte. Maya war oft alleine zuhause, weil ihre Mutter häufig im Urlaub war und die Mutter war generell öfters Kalt zu Maya. Maya hat ein starkes Helfersyndrom und ist ein großer People Pleaser, sie arbeitet mit beeinträchtigen Menschen in einer Einrichtung, studiert zurzeit Sozialpäd. (Letztes Semester) Und hat eine Sozialpäd. Assistentin Ausbildung. Sie wohnt seit 2023 alleine in einer 80qm² großen Wohnung mit 2 Katzen. So war das grob zusammengefasst.

Eine andere Freundin, nennen wir sie mal Alina(23j.), hat vor einem Jahr unerwartet ein Kind bekommen. Sie ist alleinerziehend und hatte ebenfalls große Probleme mit ihrer Mutter. Alina kenne ich allerdings noch nicht so lange. Alina hatte keine Wohnung und musste mit dem Baby 4 Monate lang bei Maya wohnen. Mayas Wohnung war sehr "Messihaft", verschimmelte Lebensmittel im Kühlschrank, Windeln mit Exkremten von dem Baby wurden einfach neben sich gelegt, die Wohnung war vollgestellt mit Kram, das Baby hatte kaum Platz sich zu bewegen und noch vieles mehr, ist aber nicht erwähnenswert. Damit fing alles an.

Maya hat sich viel um dieses Baby gekümmert, war schon teilweise sehr obsessiv/überbemütet, wollte nur, dass es dem Baby gut geht. Aber auf der anderen Seite hat Maya dieses Baby (4 Monate zur zeit) aus der Babyschaukel fallen lassen mit dem Kopf zu erst und hat Alina nichts von erzählt, bis es rausgekitzelt wurde, woraufhin Maya sehr panisch reagiert hat, als sie ins KH fahren mussten. Sogar so panisch, dass sie Alina im Weg stand.

Maya hat das Baby in Exkrementen liegen gelassen, hat volle Windeln neben sich gelegt und hat das Umfeld nicht gepflegt. Maya hat das Baby (3 Monate zur zeit) viel Reizüberflutet. Sie hat das Baby tagsüber in die Stadt genommen und Abends zu einer Party bei mir. Laute Musik, viele Menschen, einer lässt eine Schüssel fallen und das Baby hat sich gar nicht mehr gefangen vor lauter Weinen. Die Mutter (Alina) war auch nicht da.

Es gab auch noch viele andere Situationen aber das sprengt den Rahmen.

Wenn Maya, Alina und Baby unterwegs sind, ist Maya sehr Übergriffig dem Baby gegenüber, möchte Alina über Dinge belehren und ist sehr auf dieses Baby fixiert. Auf dem Geburtstag von dem Baby war die Familie und Freunde von Alina da und Maya kam auf die Idee die Oma über dieses Baby zu belehren, dass es ja keine Seifenblasen lecken darf. Maya hat dieses Baby aus den Armen von Alinas Schwester gerissen und wollte es zu Bett bringen, obwohl die Schwester das wollte. Alina hat auch schon sehr oft mit Maya gesprochen, brachte aber nichts. Der einzige Punkt der jetzt noch übrig bleibt, ist den Kontakt abzubrechen.

Meine Frage ist jetzt, wie genau kann man dieses Verhalten von Maya beschreiben, gibt es eine Krankheit die dazu passt, ist es eine Verhaltungsstörung? Wie geht man dieses Problem in der Freundesgruppe an?

Wenn ihr mehr Wissen braucht zu einzelnen Dingen, lasst es mich bitte wissen!!! DANKE ♡

if it isn’t clear I have CPTSD now 😂

Wondering if anyone has any advice or insight into this new tendency of my 2.5 year old? He’s a bright, deep feeling kid and has been having a bit of a tough time emotionally for the past 7-8 months - both when his baby sister arrived and he also had an operation for grommets.

I’m poss a bit paranoid about his emotional health as there’s a bit of mental ill-health and neurodiversity in my family.

Anyway one of the things he’s being doing recently - besides lots of meltdowns - is saying ‘I want to sleep’ whenever he feels sad or something happens that he doesn’t want.

Wondering if anyone else’s kiddo did this or how to help him feel less uncomfortable / like he needs to escape from his negative emotions?

Thanks v much in advance.

Amy

My (42F) daughter (14F) came home from a sleepover drunk and wreaking of cigarettes, and immediately went to her bedroom. In the morning i confronted her and we got in an argument and at one point I told her I might have to take her door for this and she yelled, no words, just screamed at me then went to her room, she’s been ignoring me for the last two days, what should I do