Has it ever seemed like you are numb to the events in your world?  It has for me.  When I was 8 my grandfather died, and the family acted as if nothing happened, and I felt no sadness or emotions about it.  I had learned to stuff my feelings, and carried that into my adult life.

Have you ever felt like a little kid in an adult world?  Remember the movie Big, with Tom Hanks?  I was in an adult body, but in many ways I was still 13 year old Josh Baskin, sitting in a dumpy motel room in New York City, scared to death.

Have you ever felt like you're responsible for everything that happens? Whatever is going on - somehow, it is your fault?  You are to blame.

Isolation is one of the most damaging effects of growing up in an alcoholic household. Like many adult children of alcoholics, I had this trait.

Has it ever seemed like there were chunks of your childhood you just couldn't remember?  I know most people have things they have forgotten, but what I'm talking about is where there might be blank spaces in your past.

I decide in my early '20s the one thing I wanted most in life was not to be like my Dad.   Then I realized with a shock I had become just like my Father.

Has it ever felt like you give up easily if something doesn't seem to be working out? I discovered that for me, it was connected to being put down or humiliated when I successfully completed a project as a child.

Have you ever felt like you were so caught up in analyzing problems that you were immobilized? Stewing over problems without deciding was a way not to take a risk, and I had to learn to work on problems differently in order to actually solve them.

Have you ever wondered what was normal in a certain situation.  I often have, because in my household growing up, there were very few stable patterns of behavior - everything was unpredictable.

Yes, no, black or white, for me or against me.  Any of that sound familiar?  Either you agreed with me, or I would have to make you a bad person in my mind to defend my position.  I have learned to respect the opinions of others, and sometimes "agree to disagree."