I am an Adult Child of an Alcoholic...Are you?
@royal52gens (5488)
United States
December 26, 2007 6:09pm CST
I am an ACOA. I have spent time in counseling. I have gone to meetings. Yes, they do help........a lot. Adult Children of Alcoholics are taught they have to re-parent themselves. We have to nurture ourselves. We have to take care of ourselves. So what happened to me? I moved cross-country. I quit going to meetings cause I could not find any. Slowly, I have gotten lost and sick. I did not even see it happening. Recently, I have been slapped in the face with reality of me. I am now back in counseling. I am looking for a meeting. I need those meetings. I figure if I can't find any in my neighborhood maybe we can have some meetings or discussions here on MyLot. Is there anyone who is interested in doing this with me?
3 people like this
4 responses
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
27 Dec 07
Where is your family? Why are they not helping you? They need to step up to the plate and carry some of the load.
To answer your question, yes I am an adult who was raised by an alchoholic. A very abusive alchoholic. She abused my Father too. He has passed on now. He could not stand up to her. Her abuse finally destroyed him even though he finally left her and married again. She even destroyed the one child that she claimed to love and a second child that she had. She was not just alchoholic she was schizophrenic, so was her son and daughter.
I never sought counseling but I did make two promises to myself. One I would never abuse any substance and two I would never abuse my children. I kept both promises, but I had to divorce two husbands because they could not keep them.
Shalom, Adoniah
1 person likes this
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
27 Dec 07
Adoniah, most of my family is in recovery of some kind. Each of us has different issues or multiple issues to deal with. We have discovered that the addiction had been going on for at least 5 generations before our generation stood up and said we had to stop the insanity. Currently, we have three generations of our family going through recovery programs.
@megumiart (3771)
• United States
28 Mar 08
I'm almost an adult [I'll be 18 in June], and I'm a chld of an alchoholic. In recent years, it's been pretty obvious that I got my alchoholic dad's share of mental-illness genes. I've struggled with depression/bi-polar disorder and eating disorders. I've been counseling for a few years and tried group therapy. They helped a little, and I think I'm better than before now, but my life's still a roller coaster. :/
1 person likes this
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
24 May 08
Stick with it. Keep going to the meetings and the counseling. Learn everything you can about the disease and how to avoid falling into the trap. Following your parents lead is not the way to go on this one. Make your own path. Learn to parent yourself. Learn to nurture your inner child. Be daring enough to say "NO, I don't have to drink." Stay Strong. Meditate, pray, read, talk to people. Find what works for you and stick to it. Of course, you can also share with us here. If you look at some of the discussion in this Interest group, you will find some Homework activities to work on. It might be of help to you. Let us know how you are doing.
@psyche49f (2502)
• Philippines
27 Dec 07
That's a good program...we don't have it here in our country, at least have not heard of any. But that's really a good move to help those those who may be broken, confused, lost. I hope you could find a support group who can continue to journey with you. Godspeed.
1 person likes this
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
27 Dec 07
I so agree that this is a journey. It is a personal journey that must be taken each day. I have returned to praying each day. That brings me much comfort.
@royal52gens (5488)
• United States
27 Dec 07
You are welcome to join us in our journey. You can bring the kleenex box and maybe some chocolate. You can be the shoulder for everyone to lean on.
