First and foremost Hannah, you have self esteem issues. You don’t believe that you are worthy. When promoted you think its because you are the only option. Reclaim your dignity and people will respect the gal in you. Stop stress eating because it aint gonna help, you will just add more problems in your life. And on the part of your parents, don’t stress yourself gal because you have tried your best to prove them and they still don’t appreciate you. My parents also hated me because i never go to church despite the fact that they are religiously Catholic. Sometimes its better to go your own way so long as it makes you happy. There is nothing bad with not doing what your parents expect you to do. But your main problem Hannah is self-esteem. I feel you gal. I also had self esteem issues because i am short and people thought i am ugly. However, i turned this around by upgrading my closet, working hard on my health and dreams, and suddenly i reclaimed my dignity because people started respecting me. You are good Hannah, you are blessed. Stop adding yourself with unnecessary stress.. If your dad does not love you, then leave him alone. he seems to be a bad dad.and if your mum dint approve you dont let this haunt you. She’s not God, she does not have to approve you….and please start believing that you are worthy and reclaim your dignity…I read the article below on reclaiming dignity and it really uplifted me..many people also agreed that it uplifted them.  https://www.unboundedwisdom.com/must-reclaim-dignity/

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Hi Isaac. Thank-you for your reply and sharing your experience. How is your relationship with your parents now? I understand that it is best for me to not have a relationship with my father now, as it brought me a lot of sadness and pain. I feel quite alone in the world not having parents however. When something positive happens or when I am feeling unwell or need help with a problem, I do not have them to turn to. I know many people are in the same position, so it is possible to be happy without this. I just need to get to this point. It was interesting what you said about my mother. I have never thought about it like that. I supposed I did idolise her a bit. She was not perfect. Not everything she said was right. And that’s ok.

Yes, my self-esteem is low. I do not feel attractive or smart or funny or any of the things I used to feel about myself. And I have not been doing anything to improve this so it isn’t surprising to feel progressively worse.