She is! I've gotten a big hug from her each week when I've gotten off the scales.
It's called the Adult Children of Alcoholics..... the theories originally came from, as the title says, work with grown up children of alcoholics where certain destructive behaviour patterns/beliefs/values were found to be common factors. Now it is considered to apply to anyone who grew up in a dsyfunctional household (financial, physical, verbal abuse, emotionally and/or physically absent parents etc).
The blurb on the back is:
Are you an Adult Child?
- Adult Children guess at what normal behaviour is.
- Adult Children lie when it is just as easy to tell the truth.
- Adult Children have difficulty following a project through from beginning to end.
- Adult Children judge themselves without mercy.
- Adult Children have difficulty having fun.
- AC take themselves very seriously.
- AC have difficulty with intimate relationships.
- AC over-react to changes over which they have no control.
- AC constantly seek approval and affirmation.
- AC usually feel like they are different from others.
- AC are super responsible or super irresponsible.
- AC are extremely loyal, even in the face of evidence that the loyalty is undeserved.
- AC are impulsive.
The legacy of growing up in a dysfunctional environment can follow us into adult life with negative consequences on health, work and love. Rather than continuing to allow our actions and reactions to be governed by an unhealthy childhood ...... offers answers on how to recognise, change and prevent the ghosts of our past from detrimentally influencing present and future".