Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikko
The Signs
Thirteen characteristics of adult children of alcoholics Janet Geringer Woititz, widely acknowledged as the founder of the Adult Children of Alcoholics movement, lists 13 traits to look for.
These individuals: - Can only guess what normal behavior is
- Have difficulty following a project from beginning to end
- Lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth
- Judge themselves without mercy
- Have difficulty having fun
- Take themselves very seriously
- Have difficulty with intimate relationships
- Overreact to changes over which they have no control
- Constantly seek approval and affirmation
- Usually feel that they are different from other people
- Are either super responsible or super irresponsible—there's no middle ground
- Are extremely loyal, even in the face of evidence that the loyalty is undeserved
- Are impulsive. They tend to lock themselves into a course of action without giving serious consideration to alternative behaviors or possible consequences. This impulsively leads to confusion, self-loathing and loss of control over their environment. In addition, they spend an excessive amount of energy cleaning up the mess.
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Hi,
Thanks for posting this.
I bolded the ones that seem to apply to me.
My old tdoc helped me get rid of some of these things in my 20s and 30s (saw him for
eight years.) Others I am still working on.
I once met a counselor who wanted me to go into treatment for Adult Children of Alcholics but I never returned after one session. She was too weird for me. Plus, I don't like counselors who seem to only have one trick up their sleeve or want to push something that they have embraced and act like it will solve all my problems.
The freaky thing in my family is that although my father is big drinker, he is saner than my mother. My mother is actually the crazy one. My siblings and I looked/still look to my father for stability and sanity. I suppose that I can be grateful to him for that.
M.