INFO:

Emotional incest, also called covert incest, describes an unhealthy family dynamic where a parent relies on their child for emotional and practical advice and support. In a dynamic of emotional incest, your parent treats you not as their child, but more like a romantic partner. Instead of providing appropriate parental guidance and helping you get your emotional needs met, they might rely on you for: comfort and company when they feel lonely or sad help navigating financial concerns advice on navigating conflict at work or in their personal relationships loyalty to them, rather than the other parent. In the beginning, this dynamic might leave you with a heightened sense of maturity and shared closeness. If you recognize, on some level, that your parent tells you things adults generally don’t share with children, you could feel privileged, even special. But by taking on the role of “partner,” where you support (or even parent) your parent, you effectively lose the role of “child.” As a result, your essential social and emotional needs may go unmet — something that can have major consequences for lifelong mental and emotional well-being.