I am 16 and a junior in high school. I have an older sister who is 22 and live with both of my parents.
My parents are super strict compared to my friends' parents. They are very religious, which I am not, so they don't let me do many things. I am not allowed to go out with friends all the time. I sure do go out with them at times, but it usually takes me a good amount of time to convince them into letting me go. All my friends are very free and they go out whenever they want with whoever they want.
I am not allowed to date at all, they are very strict about boys and think that "girls and guys can't be just friends". It's irritating because I have a lot of close guy friends and I can't hang out with them. They only let me go to malls (only 2 of them which are like 5 minutes away from home) but meeting up at the mall with my friends every single time is really boring. I tried to kill myself 3 years ago and after begging for years they finally let me see a therapist. They don't know much about mental issues and they always say stuff like "What problems could you possibly have to see a therapist?".
I used to have a boyfriend back then but when they found out my mom kept telling me to break up with him and now they are telling me they would ground me if I ever date someone.
I used to attend a school like Catholic schools but for my religion. (I am Muslim but as I said, I don't care about religion unlike my parents.) They didn't want me to go to a normal school at first because they thought I would rebel against them.
Since they are very religious and my mom wears a headscarf, I am not allowed to wear anything above the knee or to expose my shoulders in any way. I am also not allowed to wear anything like crop tops. I am a person who likes their independence a lot and I feel like I am trapped in my own home.
I wrote them a letter of 3 pages about this issue since I am better at writing down than talking. They said that "they didn't agree with me and I had every kind of freedom a 16 year old girl could have". My sister is in his last year in college and she is still not allowed to leave home. I am going to start college in 2 years and I am not allowed to leave home either. They keep telling us that we can leave home after we get married. I don't understand how they expect me to get married when I'm not allowed to date at all.
They pick me up and drop me off everywhere and don't let me do anything by myself outside the house. I wish they let me take care of myself more so that I could gain some experience about life in general.
I don't want to waste my teenage years like this. Please don't say "that I have to live with it" or "it's a phase and I'll grow out of it". These are sentences that praise problematic parents and I don't agree with them.
Also, I love my parents a lot so I don't want to rebel against them and make them sad. They care for us a lot and want the best for us but all my mental issues are caused because of them and I wish they understood this. Please give me some advice.