When you’re a kid, you hang onto your parent’s every word. Unlike a fellow child or a random stranger, the things your parents say to you stick whether you remember exactly what they said or not. If your parents praised you when you succeeded and encouraged you when you failed, you are probably still benefitting from that support, even if it was given to you 20 years ago. Likewise, if your parents were constantly cutting you down, insulting you, and generally saying you weren’t good enough, that unfortunately has shaped your perception of yourself, no matter how much therapy or healing you’ve done. 

Even if your parents were terrific, you probably still remember some out-of-pocket things they said to you. Some former children recently took to Reddit and Twitter to share the most memorable insults their parents hurled at them in their youth, and some of them are devastating to read.