My Thoughts / It's Never Too Late to Tackle Issues of Family Dysfunction

Summary

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Has a mental health professional told you that you or your child is bipolar, when you know down deep that the real problem is that your family life is a war zone? Are your kids out of control? When you visit with your parents or even talk to them on the phone, do you feel like you have just spent hours listening to fingernails scratching on a chalkboard? Do you find yourself hurting the ones you love, or letting them hurt you? Do you feel that your family members are better off without you? Were you a victim of childhood abuse? Do you constantly subvert your own chances for success in love and work? Are you chronically nervous and unhappy?

Experiencing several of these issues often, if not almost always, indicates family dysfunction. And that is OK. All families have issues and conflicts, although some are far worse than others. Hating yourself or feeling guilty about everything not only makes you miserable, but it makes the rest of your family miserable as well, and can cause problematic, repetitive family behavior patterns to be passed down from one generation to the next.

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Extract

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My Thoughts / It's Never Too Late to Tackle Issues of Family Dysfunction

Unfortunately, a large percentage of my fellow psychiatrists have become primarily prescription writers and are quick to diagnose conditions that respond to medication. Reactions to ongoing and rep...

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