Just like mom

"'The problems caused by alcoholism are not limited to the individual who suffers from it,' said Peter T. Morgan, associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University and corresponding author for the study. 'Children are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of alcoholism in a parent, and adult children of alcoholics are in general at much greater risk for developing every type of psychiatric illness.'"

I believe this is probably true for people who grew up in families with other dysfunctions, like mental illness. Besides running genetically in families (which they can't prove yet), I think mental illness also has to do with the nurturing received by one's family.

My mom was always a little crazy, she just went super crazy while I was in my teens. I always knew something was wrong. I tried to be in control of her from the very start. My parents tell stories about when I was 4 or 5 when I would tell my mom not to do stuff cause I wasn't big enough to save her. I would always try to guide her. I must have known something was wrong, but was too young to process it and deal with those emotions. I'm just getting to know them, now, and learning to deal with them. I still have almost no memories from childhood, so I know there's a lot blocked out there.

Other people I know who grew up in mentally dysfunctional homes or alcoholic homes seem to have a higher rate of mental illness, especially depression. It seems that those early influences have a deeper effect on us than we thought, and science is beginning to prove it.


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Adult Children of Alcoholics is an anonymous Twelve Step, Twelve Tradition program of women and men who grew up in an alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional homes. We meet with each other in a mutually respectful, safe environment and acknowledge our common experiences. We discover how childhood affected us in the past and influences us in the present ("The Problem"). We take positive action. By practicing the Twelve Steps, focusing on "The Solution", and accepting a loving Higher Power of our understanding, we find freedom from the past and a way to improve our lives today.