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Anyone Absolutely Hate the Words, Strong and Resilient?

User Profile: JanieDoe2023
JanieDoe2023 November 29th, 2025

I hate the words, strong and resilient with every fiber of my being!!!  As a matter of fact..being labeled as "strong" and "resilient" has been a life-sentence for me!!  10 years ago when I was 15, I saw this psychologist, "S" who I opened up to about my horrific freakish home life and I told her I need to escape and wanted to go to foster care and she labeled me as strong and resilient!!  She also told me to stay and "make the best of" and "just cope with" the situation I am and that I am "surviving" and those phrases infuriate me as well!!!  She was like "You are a strong resilient intelligent young lady!  Learn to cope with and make the best of the situation you are in and stop fantasizing about escaping!"  10 years later, I am still paying the price!!!  I am 25 now and since I have a horrible disability, my family is still holding guardianship over me that they will never release!!  Since I am an adult now, nothing can be done since there are no services in place to remove and rescue vulnerable adults with disabilities who are being kept under guardianship against their will!!  I have talked to several mental health professionals as an adult and they just shove "coping mechanisms" into my face when my situation is beyond something I can "just cope with" and refuse to take action to get the guardianship terminated!!!  I have seen several outpatient therapists and have been hospitalized in behavioral health units 3 times and each time, I got 0 help, no one took any action to get the guardianship terminated, and I got discharged back into the same unchanged volatile hostile nightmare!!  The cops also got involved once when I was 15 and didn't take any action against my family and they treated me horribly and blamed me!!  They got involved twice 3 years ago when I was 22 and again, didn't rescue me or terminate the guardianship!!  The cops say they can't do anything because I am an adult and there is no physical or sexual abuse!!  Being an adult doesn't mean automatic freedom and autonomy!!  The guardianship is a chokehold that is legally preventing me from leaving!!  Every time I beg my family to release the guardianship and let me live with my bf of 9 years, they yell at, verbally abuse, and scapegoat me!!  What my family is doing is wrong, but not illegal since it doesn't fit into any law that is on the books!!  Had S not labeled me as strong & resilient, not told me to just cope with & make the best of the situation I am in, and had actually taken action to get me removed from my parents' care 10 years ago, my life could be dramatically different now!!!!!!  Plus as a psychologist, S is a mandated reporter and is legally obligated to report when a minor discloses physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, neglect, or other instability in the home and I was 15 and I disclosed constant verbal abuse, constant fighting between my parents, and my mom's severe mental illness which she refuses to get help for!!  Things are worse than ever now!!!!  Even though my parents are now separated, things haven't gotten any better!!  I live with my dad who is severely senile and has severe memory loss, comprehension issues, incoherent speech, constant agitation over small things, increased stubbornness, frequently loses crucial items, and constantly destroys & petrifies food which forced me to have to take over cooking the freezer foods indefinitely since he permanently lost his ability to cook them properly without destroying them!!  Had I been rescued 10 years ago, the senility is something that I could have completely avoided!!  Everyone in my extended family despises me, has dropped out of my life, and threatened the cops on me if I contact them again!!  I have lost nearly all my friends as well!! Not even mental health professionals can tolerate me and every single one I've seen has dropped me as a client and washed their hands of me!! My problems are way over the heads and above the paygrades of any mental health professional!! I am truly beyond help!! I spend 80-90% of every day in violent emotional collapse sobbing hysterically, having manic episodes, flailing & thrashing, and being glued to chatbots all day who only make me feel worse because I am so alone and have no one else!! I have to hide all this from my family to avoid yelling, verbal abuse, and scapegoating because if I show any emotion in front of them, I suffer nightmare consequences!! This is the catastrophic outcome of Susan labeling me as "strong" and "resilient," telling me I am "surviving," and telling me to "just cope with" & "make the best of" the situation I am in 10 years ago!!!

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User Profile: Clio9876
Clio9876 November 29th, 2025

@JanieDoe2023

What I hear when I read your story is a lot of feeling of being trapped and frustrated. And I can totally understand those feelings in your situation. It does seem that no one has been listening to you for a very long time.

And i can totally relate to the challenges of incorrect labels given by other people. It can be so damaging. It's totally reasonable to be annoyed about it. I don't hate the particular words you mentioned. For me it was different ones.

Growing up I was frequently described as patient. I was so conflicted, because patience is a virtue and I so wanted to be good and so I was proud of the label. But it always felt off. Decades later I realised it wasn't patience at all! But an inability to respond due to fear and suppression. It left me angry for quite a long time.

More recently I was described as strong willed. I could see what the person was getting at, but again it felt off. I believe that's because strong will is often associated with confidence, and confidence is something i struggle with. It wasn't til I read an article that said a strong will is often linked to fear, that I thought, yes, this is me - a strong will as a way to cope with fear.

I think this is the trick to unhelpful labels - reclaim them. Decide for yourself who you are and redefine them so they are right for you.

Any strength you have is a strength that you had no choice over and should never have needed in the first place. So of course it feels wrong and unfair.

How would you like to describe yourself instead?

User Profile: Priyapjw1
Priyapjw1 December 1st, 2025

@JanieDoe2023I am really sorry you are living in this much pain. Your situation sounds overwhelming and no one should have to face it alone. You are not beyond help, even if it feels that way. You deserve safety, support, and a path out.


If you ever feel like you might hurt yourself, please reach out right away to a crisis line like 988 in the US or your local emergency number. They can talk with you in the moment and help keep you safe.

For guardianship issues, legal aid groups and disability rights organizations can sometimes guide adults through challenging or abusive setups. You do not have to solve all of this alone, and wanting help is not a weakness.