Friday, November 23, 2007

home

Two days is just the right amount, I guess. After that, someone starts crying.

Dr. Janet G. Woititz identified in her book, Adult Children of Alcoholics, thirteen primary characteristics of Adult Children of Alcoholics:

  • Guessing at what normal behavior is.
  • Having difficulty following a project through from beginning to end.
  • Lying when it would be just as easy to tell the truth.
  • Judging themselves without mercy.
  • Having difficulty having fun.
  • Taking themselves very seriously.
  • Having difficulty with intimate relationships.
  • Overreacting to changes over which they have no control.
  • Constantly seeking approval and affirmation.
  • Usually feeling that they are different from other people.
  • Extreme responsibility or irresponsibility.
  • Extreme loyalty, even in the face of evidence that the loyalty is undeserved.
  • Impulsivity - tending to lock themselves into a course of action without giving serious consideration to alternative behaviors or possible consequences. This impulsivity 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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