Parents: Let your sons be children.

Teach them that their worth isn't tied to how much they can carry.

Allow your son to fail.

To cry.

To rest.

Show him that he is loved for who he is-not what he does.

His anger masks the grief of a childhood lost to responsibility.

Defensive, reactive, or emotionally shut down, he feels like he's carrying the weight of the world-alone.

His relationships suffer as he pushes people away, even though what he craves most is connection and care.

As an adult, he struggles with chronic stress, feeling unworthy unless he's helping others, and anger when his needs are ignored.

He over-functions in relationships, taking on more than his share, but resents it deeply.

As a child, he carried adult responsibilities-emotionally supporting his parents, raising siblings, or fixing family problems.

When his needs were ignored, he learned to suppress them.

To him, asking for help felt selfish, and being vulnerable was dangerous.

From a young age, he felt responsible for holding the family together.

He became the emotional support, the problem solver, or even the 'man of the house.'

Childhood wasn't a time for joy-it was survival training.