My particular situation is sorta reverse. My mom always preferred me over my brother because I had fairer skin. My mom even convinced my brother to use skin bleaching products. Anyway, being preferred in my case was actually a bad thing since my mom was a religious psycho who forced me to participate in various voodoo rituals against my will. She was insanely overprotective and extremely paranoid -- whenever I coughed, sneezed, stretch, had a common cold, used the bathroom too long -- she would always assumed that someone put a 'hex' on me and that 'evil spirits' were trying to possess me.
Her bizarre/extreme parenting is the source of my depressing (which extended into my adult life). I rarely talk about it with other people because they either assume 1) that I'm lying, 2) exaggerating, or 3) quick to defend my mother and dismiss her behavior as normal motherly love. She's very religious and superstitious and believes in these things. She always assumes that I'm sick and would force feed me prescription medication even when I'm in perfect health.