Can anybody here give me a believable alternate explanation as to how it can be possible that i have a mom that does charity work, etc., but ignores my emotional needs completely? Because really, i don't have an explanation that makes sense. It doesn't fit. And that is why i always go back to blaming myself. That is why i think there must be some good reason why she didn't/doesn't show empathy/concern for my struggles. What could i have done for my mom to not want to help me? I always thought that maternal bonding was built it. Most mothers i know would put their lives at risk to protect their kids. Is it normal that when i told my mom that my neighbor put his hands down my pants, that she and my dad just said, "Don't go over and visit him anymore" and let the matter drop? Does it make sense that when i was hospitalized for feeling suicidal that neither one of my parents ever mentioned it? Yet my mom plays piano for the nursing home and knits sweaters for orphans and is the president of the women's club at her church. She's "all that" and more. It makes me feel that there is something terribly wrong with me that she would let me suffer alone with things.

Please help me understand how this is possible, and how it "isn't" my fault. Because i keep coming back to the idea that it must be something wrong with ME.