is it still considered child neglect if you're 21

Spoiler

i'm 21 and living with my parents. i had a job but the stress got too high and i quit. i can't drive, even if i could we wouldn't have the money to buy another car, i have no friends (or family that would be willing to help) in the area.

i try to help out around the house to at least alleviate the fact i'm living there rent-free. i've asked for help with both job applications and college courses probably every year since i left high-school and it's always been "i'm too busy". i've applied to three trade schools and every time have been shot down right after i've been accepted (and in one case a few weeks before classes started). i'm stuck here

anyways my whole point is that in october after almost half a year of arguing with my parents i got a dentist's appointment because one of my crowns had fallen out the year before. turns out i had a bad infection in the back of my mouth. they tell me to take antibiotics for the month and then go to another dentist to get it properly fixed. i take the antibiotics and finish late november, and since then i've been asking non-stop about going to the dentist. every response has been "ask your mom" or "i don't like how you treat me / how sad you are / we need to find another dentist". months straight of asking. the tooth at the back has fallen out in bone chunks and the gum has completely swollen over it and then opened back up again. one of my front teeth has started going black in the middle. and it's the same response everytime even after i scream and yell and argue with them that it's painful to eat and talk and even exist.

it's always been like this, i have something medically wrong with me and they put it off because they think i'm lying or any of the above reasons. i can't find a dentist on my own because even if i did i wouldn't be able to get there.

i've actively attempted suicide this year already, i've gotten back in the habit of cutting myself (something they know i do and make fun of me for when we fight), i barely talk to my friends anymore to the point people i've been in contact with for years have stopped talking to me. i'm alone and i'm constantly in pain and i can't do anything about it. killing myself is the only way out, i'm too much of an idiot to do anything remotely passable as being human, i've deigned to venting on reddit of all places because nobody else will listen to me anymore. i've tried so hard to work on myself but after all this work and no change i'd really rather just die than keep living like this.

i was born all sorts of fucked up and i never even had a childhood, half of it was being hit and yelled at and bullied and the other half i don't remember. i'm 21 and i feel like life has nothing else for me. i can't even get my parents to care about my physical health. the doctors told my mom to abort me before i was born and she didn't and now look where i am i wasn't even supposed to be here and i think the world knows i wasn't supposed to be here

Posted Mar 4, 2026, 7:08 AM UTC

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