AITA for having attitude with my mother after she didn’t help me when I fainted bc she thought “I was faking it”?

A 15-year-old girl fainted while helping her parents hold a heavy object, after repeatedly warning her mom she felt unwell and was about to pass out. Despite collapsing on the concrete and later on the grass, her mom assumed she was faking to avoid helping.

After the girl regained her senses and confronted her mom, her mom dismissed her concerns, claiming the fall looked “too graceful” to be real. Hurt and upset, the girl got emotional and now doesn’t want to talk to her mom. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for having attitude with my mother after she didn’t help me when I fainted bc she thought “I was faking it”?’

Today, I (15f) was helping my parents and holding up a very heavy object for them when all of a sudden my vision started going black and I thought I was going to throw up. I remember asking my mom please, please, please take this from me I have to let it go I don’t feel so good.

I’m actually sick and I think I’m gonna faint or throw up, I can’t see (she probably thinks I fake other illnesses when in reality I just have a stupid weak immune system).

So, I proceed to black out on the concrete and come to my senses after some time (this is outside in front of our house where they were working and my mom could clearly see me, not sure how long I was out, probably a few minutes) with my ear and body hurting like hell.

I am completely out of it and stumble to a piece of grass 20 or so ft away and conk out again (at this point I thought i was going to throw up). Wake up again to some people walking by and I try to rush inside and low and behold meet my mother.

I say I think I fainted and she just tells me to “go ouside and cool down” (Like go lay in the grass???). So I just left and It took a while before I felt ok, I also realized a few minutes later I had gotten a pretty significant scrape on my back too.

I later confronted her about it, asking why she didn’t help me and she said she thought I was “faking it” because I didn’t want to hold the object up any longer and my fall looked to “graceful/slow” for it to be real, plus it’s the first time this happened. I got mad and started crying because it felt like she didn’t care. Now I don’t want to talk to her, AITA?. .

See what others had to share with OP:

algunarubia −  NTA, and please go see a doctor. It’s not normal to feel faint from just lifting something heavy. It could be something as simple as anemia, but it could also be much worse. Better to get it diagnosed sooner rather than later. Also your mom is terrible.

If she’s just as dismissive when you ask to go to the doctor as she was about this incident, tell an adult you trust about this and see if they’ll take you. Your dad, a relative, a teacher, a friend’s parent, really anyone will do as long as you trust them and they take you seriously.

Kallyle −  NTA. How can someone call themselves a mom and not be worried about her own daughter’s health and safety?! I am so sorry you had to go through this.

FiestyMum −  omg NTA… former NP here, now disabled with POTS (please google dysautonomia and POTS, sounds like possible cause but this is just the internet). However, the rule of thumb is that ANY episode of syncope (fainting) gets a full cardiac and neuro workup.

One possible cause is cardiac arrhythmia… think of teen athletes with sudden cardiac arrest. I’m not trying to scare you, but it’s imperative you get seen asap for evaluation. I would go to emergency today, there are labs and imaging that urgent care and outpatient simply cannot get run. 

Medical_Temperature4 −  You could put it to her like this, well mom hopefully you don’t ever have a medical emergency that would require emergency assistance bc I’ll just assume you’re joking.

v0reMormon −  I experienced “graceful fainting” when I was also 15 because of a thing called vasovagalsyncope. I also have low blood pressure. Because I am still able to control bodily function while my vision goes out, I would control how I would land as not to hit my head but wasn’t able to interfere much more than that.

My mother took it very seriously as I started fainting almost daily because of it, but I also recall her not thinking it was real fainting the first time. She described the way I fell as “dropping a wet wash cloth.” The doctors said it was something I was likely to grow out of and I did!

The last fainting episode I remember having was when I was 19 and nothing since. If the fainting starts occurring regularly definitely insist on a visit to your primary care doctor.

SliceEquivalent825 −  NTA But you need to be checked out by a doctor asap. If your mom has an issue talk to your dad, or grandma, etc until you get to see a doctor.

Gatodeluna −  I would share this with your school nurse, making sure you tell them you’re afraid because your mother doesn’t care/didn’t help you. Get Social Services of some kind notified who will pay an investigative call on your parents and will be made aware of all of this.

When I was about 10 I fell at school during recess and my mother ignored it and wouldn’t take me to a doctor because she had no insurance and was cheap. I went to the school nurse the next day because it hurt so bad and the nurse called my mom & was kind of WTF is the matter with you?

Take your kid to the doctor! My arm was broken and required a full cast. I tried hard to never let my mom forget it as long as she lived.

Battlepuppy −  NTA, I’m sorry your mother is someone who only thinks of herself. It’s not going to get better. Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about how broken she is inside. She will be callous, and angry and may try to hurt your feelings. You will have to wait several years, and then you can leave.

fractal_frog −  As someone who was yelled at by her own mother for fainting as a teen, I’m going to go with NTA.

Was the teen right to feel hurt and upset by her mom’s reaction, or is she overreacting? Should the mom have handled the situation differently? what do you think? share your thoughts below!