Am I overreacting by going no contact with my alcoholic dad?
So I’m currently no contact with my dad. He’s an alcoholic and has been a massive source of anxiety and embarrassment for me my whole life. He’s done and said things that affect me to this day, and has a history of ignoring boundaries.
For example, I’ve clearly disengaged and blocked his number and email address. He sends me letters in the mail now and has gone as far as to show up at my apartment knocking on the door.
I work with CSEC victims and compared to the trauma I see daily, my experiences with my dad are nowhere near the level of what some people go through. He was inconsistent, unstable, an alcoholic, and I always felt like what he wanted was more important than me every time. I couldn’t say no to him. My family revolved around him. I haven’t explained this to him because frankly I don’t want to. I just don’t want to talk to him. I’m done, I’m exhausted, and I feel like he’s forcing himself on me. He drank my entire life and it sounds like he is currently not drinking. He’s prying for my attention and getting older.
Am I cruel for not speaking to him? Am I cold? When I think of him right now he disgusts me. Sometimes I think there might be more trauma that I can’t even remember. But ultimately he was an unstable alcoholic that hurt me emotionally and traumatized me. But, if that’s all, am I in the wrong for cutting him off? Do I owe him presence because he didn’t abuse me? Am I overreacting?
Truly want to know if anyone has gone no contact with an alcoholic parent that didn’t physically abuse them, and is not as bad as many many other alcoholic or abusive parents.
Posted Dec 29, 2025, 2:59 AM UTC