Letting Go of Toxic Parentage
Twittering One
waiting ares (because I am homeless, & needed a warm safe place,
before the hospital asked me to leave); and I had a rich opportunity
to watch -- mostly blood or inlaw relatives -- interact over the
course of hours or days.
This was was very enlightening to me, since I come from a single-child
home. It is amazing what gene pools do, when grouped together.
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October 20, 2009
Mind
When Parents Are Too Toxic to Tolerate
By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D.
You can divorce an abusive spouse. You can call it quits if your lover
mistreats you. But what can you do if the source of your misery is
your own parent?
Granted, no parent is perfect. And whining about parental failure,
real or not, is practically an American pastime that keeps the
therapeutic community dutifully employed.
But just as there are ordinary good-enough parents who mysteriously
produce a difficult child, there are some decent people who have the
misfortune of having a truly toxic parent.
A patient of mine ...