parent problem

i live with my dad and we have always been real close. i have looked after him cooking cleaning shopping helping him out when he brings work home everything for years. we both have mental health problems and i have trouble adjusting to new situations and new people. dad has recently found a girlfriend and now she cooks and cleans and talks to him about his work and does everything i used to do for him so now i'm obsolete. i feel useless and whenever she comes round they always act like teenagers and like they want to be alone so i feel that i'm in the way too. i don't know how to act around her so i go up to my room to try to give them some space and avoid awkward silences where i don't know what to say to her.

anyway he has decided to move her in and they want me to move out to make room for her kids. my mental health problems stop me from sharing a house with anyone so i need to get a flat. i can just about afford a flat near home but it's too far away from university. dad said at first that he would help me out with the extra to rent a flat near university but now his girlfriend has told him that she thinks i'm being nasty and she doesn't want to come here when i'm at home. he doesn't believe me that i'm trying hard and don't know how else to act, so now he won't help me. he won't even help me look for a place. every day things are getting more tense and i need to get out. they're moving in next month so i have to find somewhere as soon as possible.

i feel like i'm backed onto the edge of a cliff and i don't know what else to do. i've been more depressed than ever since all this started and my dad's treating me like a criminal. i don't know what i want from posting this here i guess i want someone objective to tell me to grow up and stand on my own feet for once.

Reply 1

generalebriety

Out of interest, are your mental health problems autism-related?

This is horrible of your dad. How old are you? Not that that matters really... you're at university age, and especially if you're autistic and he knows it, it will be very difficult for you to go out and find a flat. Play the guilt card. He has a kid too and he needs to realise that.