I've been googling trying to find any articles that may discuss the subject of the psychological effects on adults who grew up in alcoholic homes as children. I keep coming up on articles of things that happen to kids currently living in the situation and nothing really about the aftermath.

Anyone want to help?

By Reds9298 on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 05:58 pm:

There's an older book called "Perfect Daughters" or "The Perfect Daughter" about daughters of alcoholic fathers. I think the authors last name is Ackerman (maybe with 2 n's). It is a great book and may have a new edition by now. Not sure if that would help, but I remember it.

By Boxzgrl on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 06:05 pm:

Thank you! I can actually read the book right through googles link!

I'm just trying to figure out if my negative outlook on alcohol is a normal reaction of growing up with alcoholic parents. Sometimes I feel like i'm going overboard and need to chill out and sometimes I feel like I must have "control" over everyones drinking around me. It's frustrating.

By Texannie on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 07:15 pm:

I don't think you need a book to tell you that is why are have that reaction. I think that's exactly why you have such a strong reaction. It might be better to find out how to deal with your need to control the situation. My uncle was an alcoholic. He had four children. The oldest saw the worst part of the disease and absolutely does not drink, is terrified of it, gets horribly nervous even around it.

By Enchens on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 03:17 am:

Totally normal reaction to it. I can sit with you and exchange stories. Oh, my. Stuff my parents did. It's a miracle my siblings and I are still alive.
I don't touch the stuff, don't even want to smell it. It bothered me to have alcohol at my wedding. So, yes, totally normal reactions to having dealt with alcoholic parents.

Good luck with your reading. I hope you find more answers.

By Wandilu on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 11:19 pm:

Adult Children of Alcoholics is another great book on this topic.

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 11:22 pm:

I would check the AlAnon website and see what they recommend. They may also have a message board or blog type thing where you can ask.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:49 am:

There are message boards for AlAnon support.

By Jayne2 on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 10:08 pm:

CoDependent No More was a good book. Also Toxic Parents. AlAnon is a great resource.

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 10:52 am:

Thanks girls. It's been a whirlwind of a week realizing that i'm probably the only one in my family that is NOT an alcoholic.And it threw me off even more when my whole family ordered pitcher after pitcher of beer when we took Kaitlyn to Boomers for her birthday. (Of course that's only one of many examples I could share.)

By Tunnia on Monday, June 2, 2008 - 02:09 pm:

I just finished a book called "Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter" by Barbara Robinette Moss. It is a memoir about the author growing up in poverty with an alcoholic father that had an abusive side. There is a little bit in the book about her adult life, but it is mostly about her childhood and teen years. However, she has a sequel called "Fierce" that deals with her life as an adult with some flashbacks to her childhood and how growing up in an alcoholic home affected and shaped her life as an adult. I have not read "Fierce" yet (a friend has and told me about it), but I plan to get the book this week.

These are not self-help books, but memoirs of a woman who grew up in an alcoholic and abusive home. You would think that they would be depressing, but they are not. She writes them more from the point of view of a survivor and someone who struggles to rise above her past rather than a victim. At the same time she writes an honest account of how her past has shaped her thinking and behavior as an adult.