This is an ABC podcast.

A quick warning, this episode touches on the topic of suicide. Take care while listening.

Mandy's mother has always had a controlling streak. When she was 10 years old, her mom got a job at her school,

which is a bit of a nightmare scenario for most kids anyways, but her mother used her presence

in a peculiar way. My mother was telling me who I was and I wasn't allowed to be friends with.

She was prohibiting most people I made friends with, so she would actually leave her post during my lunchtime to see who I was hanging out with

and if I was following her orders.

Mandy quickly realized this wasn't normal.

Because I was like, well, nobody else's mom is coming in here and checking to see who they're friends with.

In her teens, Mandy's mother threw her a big, expensive birthday party,

which doesn't sound so bad, but she really, really didn't want one.

So in Brazil, we have a tradition where we have a large party when somebody is 15

and they're coming in to be a woman and et cetera.

It's usually a very expensive party. I kept telling her,

I really don't want to do this and she said, no, but I'm missing out on this experience. And it was

funny because it's very clearly a party that's not for the parent, it's for the child. And so she set

up this whole party, did it all from her own way. And, you know, that's

not completely unhealthy in and of itself. But when you notice that in a pattern of behavior,

it becomes very interesting. Mandy's now in her late 20s. And until a few years ago,

her mother was still trying to control what she wore, going as far as to pre-approve what she could buy.

There was one day where I was wearing an outfit that she didn't like the combination,

and she started freaking out to the point where she went up to the door and blocked my exit.

...