Wow, I am so glad I found this site. My mother is also mentally ill and for years she tried to make me think it was me. She's gotten worse in recent years. She's 62, and has done everything from throwing a fit and breaking stuff on her front lawn in front of my son (who was 7 or 8 at the time) which greatly traumatized him, to ruining our Christmas one year by "surprising" us by bringing garbage bags full of stuff and saying she was leaving her husband. When I called him, he had no clue what she was up to, and she didn't end up leaving him, and I really don't think she ever intended to. I guess that whole thing was just for attention? I have no clue. It was horrible though. She picks at me and now my son, who is 10. She is sooo critical and ALWAYS looks for what is WRONG with everything and is never happy. I too, like one of the other posters on here am a perfectionist, I'm sure due to being raised by someone so critical. I just recently wrote her a long email setting boundaries with her. We go through this every so often, but then she worms her way back in. There is just no way for me to have a "normal" or even semi-normal relationship with her. When I confront her with her behaviors, she acts like the victim and won't take responsibility for her actions.