How do I tell my parents I can't tell each and every small detail about my life to them

Hey, I’m a 22 year old guy from a tier 3 city. I recently started my career with a salary of around 3.5 LPA. Life has been okay on paper, but mentally it hasn’t been that great lately.

I’m someone who can’t really hide my emotions. Whatever I feel kind of shows on my face, so people who know me can easily tell when something’s off.

My mom is very strict, overprotective and has a pretty orthodox mindset. My dad tries to act more chill, but deep down he’s not very different. I don’t really share much with my mom, it’s just a typical Indian mom son equation. I do share some things with my dad sometimes.

He came back from the Gulf about a month ago, and ever since then I feel like I’ve had almost no personal space. Today after dinner I just wanted some time alone. I wasn’t in the best mood, nothing serious, just one of those phases where I feel a bit sad and lonely. It happens once every 4 to 6 weeks. Usually I just sit alone, write things down, think a bit, and I feel better.

But there’s honestly no privacy at home.

I’m an only child, I don’t have many friends either, just a couple of close ones who are like brothers to me. They help a lot, but sometimes you still feel the absence of a romantic life. Everyone around me seems to have had relationships or at least some experiences, and I haven’t even had my first girlfriend yet. It doesn’t bother me most of the time because I want to focus on building my career, but these lonely phases still hit.

I’ve tried talking to my parents about how I feel, but it always turns into lectures. “Hamare zamane mein…” “Aaj kal ke bachche…” and all that.

That’s the main thing, I don’t want solutions every time. I don’t want advice or comparisons. Sometimes I just want someone to listen and say that what I’m feeling is okay. I just want a bit of validation, and I’ve honestly never really gotten that from my parents or even from most people in my life.

So I stopped sharing.

Today when I was sitting quietly, my dad came in and kept asking what’s wrong. I told him multiple times it’s nothing serious and I’ll be fine, but he kept insisting and kind of forcing me to say something. I stayed polite but firm because I really didn’t want another lecture.

Then he got upset and said things like “ab tu bada ho gaya hai, baap ki baat nahi maanta, izzat nahi karta” and started playing the emotional card.

That just made everything worse.

This has been happening a lot since he came back. He wants to know every small detail of my life. I understand he’s worried, I really do, but the constant pressure and lack of space, especially when I’m already not feeling great, is just draining.

How do you deal with parents who don’t understand that sometimes you just need space and a little validation, not advice?