I [22f] am still fucking terrified of my parents [58f,59m]

Non-Romantic

Throwaway cause I can. Shit might be long. Sorry.

I'm 22 and I'm still living at home. Although I really appreciate all that my parents have done for me, I'm starting to feel a little smothered.

Financially, I can't afford to move out, or I absolutely would. I'm currently trying to take care of logistics to be able to do so, like finding roommates, a place I can someday soon afford, as well saving up for it, but even with that, it's not coming together very well so far and I'm worried that it may be a while before I can leave.

My parents have never been physically abusive or hurt me in any way, but all my life, they've been what I consider to be quite overbearing. I'm not sure why. I was never a bad kid. I've always been pretty shy with decent judgement. The most trouble I ever got into at school was a single detention in the seventh grade for some minor, forgettable offense. But still, I feel overprotected.

For example, I was not allowed to get my license until I was at least 18, I am still not allowed to drive more than roughly 30 minutes away from home, and most nights, I have an 11 o'clock curfew, which, compared to other people my age who still live at home, seems kind of unreasonable to me.

I am just terrified of disappointing them or having my life even further restricted. I am a senior in college and I'm not allowed to live on campus or even drive myself to school. It's ridiculously embarrassing.

Of course, I occasionally tell fibs about my whereabouts sometimes in order to have more freedom, like saying I'm going to dinner with friends when I'm actually going to a club or something, or saying that I'll spend the night at a friend's house when I'm actually with my SO. And that's another reason for my fear of my parents. I'm so afraid that one day they're going to find out that I wasn't where I said I was, or they'll catch me in a lie, and I'll have even less leeway. I panic about those possibilities enough that I've stopped sneaking around, which means that any social time I get ends at around 10:30 and is tempered with hourly calls/texts from my parents asking where I am and if I'm coming home soon.

All of this makes me sound so pathetic and I feel embarrassed by it, but I'm wondering if anyone has had similar experiences, or if this seems excessive to anyone else. Maybe I'm overreacting, and they're just doing their job.

TL;DR - At age 22, I am still so under my parents' thumbs that it's frightening. I live in fear of making mistakes and/or getting caught.

Posted May 15, 2016, 8:12 PM UTC

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