An adult child of an alcoholic (ACOA) is someone who grew up in a home where there was active addiction and/or major family dysfunction. The addiction could be to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, food, shopping, or any other type of substance or process. ACOAs share a variety of personality traits that originally helped them to cope with the chaotic and unpredictable environment typical of families where there is active addiction. These characteristics can also appear in adults who grew up in households where someone was chronically ill, were raised in foster care, or had caretakers who were strictly religious. Although these characteristics initially helped ACOAs to cope with troubled environments as children, the same characteristics don’t work very well for adults.
[Read more…]