Situation · Family and friends
“My mother threatens to hurt herself if I don't do what she wants”
What could be going on
Warning signs of suicide risk and self-harm: Treat any talk of self-harm seriously; check for plans or means and contact emergency help.
Emotional blackmail (fear, obligation, guilt): Fits if the threat appears when you refuse something; safety still comes first.
Borderline personality: Could fit if threats come with frantic fear of abandonment and stormy relationships.
Enmeshment: Check whether your separateness is treated as life-or-death in the family.
Boundaries: You can keep a limit and still get her help; her safety isn't yours alone.
Questions to carry
- Who else in the family, or among the people who care for her, knows she says this?
- What happens in my body when she says it, and who could I tell today?
Also said as
- my mum says she'll kill herself if I move away
- my parent threatens suicide when I set boundaries
- she says she won't be here if I leave
- my dad says he'll end it all if I don't visit
- mother threatens self-harm
- my mum says she'll hurt herself if I leave