I cut off my family because my brother wasn’t invited to a wedding
Before I start, I apologize if this isn’t the right subreddit
My (24F) brother (27M) has fallen into alcoholism at the beginning of this year. He attempted suicide shortly after, and has finally been attending a daily inpatient program. My parents and him thought he only needed therapy once a week, but I pushed and found him a program he likes.
Prior to this, my brother got involved with a girl at work who was all bad news. He ended up losing his job because he was unprofessional with her in the workplace. Important context is my cousin got him this job. For months, my brother has nonstop been reliant on my cousin as a therapist and a lifeline. My cousins wedding rolls explicitly told my brother that if he doesn’t get help for his alcoholism, he will not be able to come to the wedding. After that, my cousin blocked him.
My cousins wedding rolls around and the invites go out. My family receives an invitation that says to the [insert last name] here. When my Mom finally decided to RSVP, my brother wasn’t listed on the website and my Mom lost her mind. She called all of my aunts and uncles and grandparents cussing them out and saying horrible things to them that I don’t want to repeat.
For some reason, she is under the impression that it was a secret group decision to not invite my brother when my aunt (mother of the groom) told me that she herself didn’t know about his un-invitation. Neither did anyone else.
Since then, my Mom and brother have refused to talk to any of the family. I have tried to be neutral in the situation because I understand why both sides are hurting. My brother was uninvited, and my cousin got put into a role he didn’t ask for.
Anyways, I have also tried to be very supportive. I answer my brother whenever he calls. After his attempt, I called the police and had an ambulance sent to his address to go pick him up. He’s screamed at me, called me names, threatened me if I were to attend the wedding, etc. My mom and brother came to pick me up for lunch a month ago and took my phone from me and locked the car doors until I would talk to them about the wedding and justify my reasons for attending.
My brother continues to text my extended family and call them names for supporting my cousin, when in reality they haven’t “supported” the decision, but more-so just attended the wedding.
My Mom constantly tells me I don’t understand no matter how I try to help.
Last night, I lost it. I screamed at my Mom for texting such unkind things to the rest of the family, for telling me I never understand, and for never acknowledging how much I have been hurting throughout the past few months. When I was in the hospital for a health scare, my mom saw I was with my boyfriend and immediately started talking about my brother again on the phone. I let it all out.
My brother texted me and told me to never come home again or speak to him, so I blocked him.
I don’t wanna talk to either of them ever again, to be honest. I feel so much stress and anxiety whenever I pick up the phone. The verbal abuse that I have endured has been detrimental to me.
I just want to know if anyone has any thoughts on this. I feel guilty for cutting off my Mom and brother because my brother is dealing with mental health issues so I know he’s not in a good place right now, but there are never any repercussions for the painful things he says to me.
Posted Jul 23, 2026, 4:55 AM UTC