When Kids Become Caretakers: What Parentification Is and Why It Still Matters

Part 1 of 2: The Basics. What happened, and what it taught you about yourself

 You grew up fast. Maybe faster than you should have.

You learned to make yourself useful, emotionally, practically, or both, because that's what kept things stable.

Now you're an adult, and you're good at taking care of people. But somewhere along the way, you may have noticed: it's harder to let anyone take care of you. Or you find yourself anxious when things are too calm. Or you keep ending up in relationships where you're doing most of the heavy lifting.

If any of that sounds familiar, it might be worth looking at something called parentification.