Burnout is a serious business. It means you’re either at a breaking point or close to one. Unfortunately not all parents care about this.

See how these parents made their son’s life even more hectic.

AITA for calling out of work and not telling my parents the real reason?

I took a factory job this summer to help pay off my credit card. My parents were thrilled because my mom works a similar job and they kept encouraging me to stick with it (even next summer).

But the job is exhausting. It was supposed to be 6AM–2PM, but we’ve been working overtime for weeks. I’m constantly sore, bruised, and barely functioning after shifts. On top of that, I’m also a college student at an out of state competitive university, doing summer research that matters to my future.

That’s just the start of his troubles.

This week I hit a breaking point. My family’s house has a flea problem due to outdoor cats. They didn’t handle it before I came home and now it’s honestly terrible. I brought my college cat home and didn’t realize she had picked up fleas. My girlfriend and I had to deep clean her place because of this and I started getting flea bites too.

I got so overwhelmed that I spiralled and broke down. My girlfriend and I decided I’d take the day off to deep clean my room and finally treat the issue.

I told my parents I had a headache to avoid drama when they asked why I didn’t go to work.

But they flipped out, yelling that I’m irresponsible, selfish, and don’t care about them anymore. My mom kept pushing even after I asked for space.

The drama never ends.

They’ve also been upset lately that I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, don’t ask for permission to go out and don’t drop everything to help them around the house.

I’m trying to keep up with school, work, and just survive this environment. Am I overreacting? They always make me feel guilty whenever I do stuff they don’t like. I can’t tell if I’m being as awful as they’re saying or not. I mean I am just 20 years old and I do come home during breaks.

I understand that they probably feel like I’m being disrespectful. Lately I’ve been so overwhelmed though that I’ve been driving around late at night with my girlfriend to feel comfortable.

Here is what people are talking about.

It’s important to make sure you pass your classes!

Rude. I’m glad you didn’t finish.

Great idea.

Dude, it’s not a competition.

Because they are narcissists?

He could probably use therapy, having these two as parents.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.