Cutting Ties; Family Relations Aren’t Always Positive.

Amanda Bussman
6 min readDec 4, 2021
Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash

Back in August I made the decision to disengage from a negative familial situation. This was a decision that was not made lightly and one that I highly struggled with. There was a breaking point where I couldn’t handle it anymore and it was negatively impacting my mental health. The decision I made was one I made to better my own health.

Before I really get into this, I just wanted to say that if you’re in a situation that is harmful to you mentally it’s okay to leave. Family can be difficult. We are conditioned to believe that we need to put those who share our blood above all others. You see everywhere that family is supposed to be everything.

What about when it’s toxic?

Let me give a bit of background:

I am the youngest of three.

My sisters are 14 and 12 years my senior.

Before you go on thinking that I was the “oops” baby, I was the child that was tried for. The one that they struggled to conceive.

Honestly, I was probably the child they never should have had.

My parents passed away 11 and 7 years ago. My mother died of a combind heart attack and stroke when I was 20. My father struggled with addiction and depression for four straight years after losing her.

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Amanda Bussman

If you're looking for a writing coach and someone who is working through generational trauma, you've come to the right place. OH! I hope you like Taylor Swift!