Main character syndrome is becoming more normalized as the world shifts from a pack mentality to an individualistic one. There’s nothing wrong with individualism, to be clear, but toxic individualism in excess has the potential to uproot entire egos, relationships, and family ties. If we believe that we are truly the center of not only our own universe, but also of everyone else’s, then we act in ways that signal to others that we are more important than they. In familial relationships, this habit of decentering everyone else you care about can cause emotional turmoil that builds and builds until the tension boils over, and then, a relationship is ruined.

If you’ve ever grown up with someone who you’d consider a «golden child» sibling, then this is probably the only life you’ve ever known. Watching someone who is supposed to nurture and love you act in such callous and selfish ways is jarring, especially when you have no other dynamic to compare this toxic one to. How do you reconcile the fact that a sibling makes it their mission to put you down in more ways than one? It’s easy to suggest that the rejected sibling remind themselves that their «golden child» sibling has more issues within themselves than with others, but what use does that do when the same sibling is still barraging them in any way they want and see fit? 

In this next story, a woman finally stands up for herself after nearly 30 years of her older sister treating her like an emotional punching bag. This type of entitled behavior can only go on for so long before everything boils over to the surface. Scroll below to read about their tumultuous relationship.