When a Mother Catfishes Her Daughter

Commentary on the recent Netflix documentary and mother-daughter jealousy.

Mother-daughter jealousyThe 2025 Netflix documentary, UnKnown Number: The High School Catfish, depicts the true story of a mother in Michigan who shockingly barrages her teenage daughter with vicious text messages for nearly two years. The texts, sometimes up to 50 per day, included death threats, sexually explicit messages, and even a directive to the daughter to kill herself. Why would a mother do such a thing?

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