Admiral

A lot of us drank, or used drugs in an attempt to not feel some sort of unpleasant feeling or thought. I would guess that a lot of, if not most of us were raised in a dysfunctional family, whether that be abuse, neglect, abandonment... These things come in MANY forms, and I've learned that addiction is just one of many traits of a person who grew up in such a home.

gerlach - YouTube

Peter Gerlach is a veteran therapist who has worked with people for over thirty years. Above is a large collection of videos describing the problems that can develop when someone is raised in a dysfunctional household, and how to heal those wounds. He also has a non profit site that he mentions in many of his videos, I'm starting to work through it right now and wanted to spread the word.

Remember; Simply being sober is not enough, addiction is a symptom of some underlying problem, this is a great, free resource. Share and spread the word to others who may benefit.

PurpleKnight

There was a thread recently with a list of questions to define how dysfunctional your childhood/family was, it gave a score from 1 to 10, the results were pretty mixed to be fair.

I guess a dysfunctional family can indeed cause addicitons, but not all addictions are the result of a dysfunctional family!!

I always find this stuff interesting!!

Mentium

I don't personally think that addiction is any respecter of family background, one way or another. Just me.

LadyBlue0527

Great thread but it's my opinion there is no such thing as a non dysfunctional family. Just varying degrees.

Interesting too that I know people who grew up in the lesser dysfunctional type who have addiction problems and I also know those who were in extremes who have no addictive tendencies (that I know of).

Still interesting to read studies though.

LDT

My family of origin put the "dys" in dysfunction .... Or more accurately, put the "non" in nonfunctional....I'm an alcoholic..... Will read that link. Thanks, Admiral.