One of the main problems in the world is alcoholism. In 2020, more than 50 thousand people died due to alcohol in Russia alone. Every second family (if not every first) has a close or distant relative who is an alcoholic. The history of our country is terrifying: revolution, repression, war, crisis, collapse of the USSR. Each turn, like a challenge, forced people to mobilize all their strength. Stress kept the psyche in constant tension, which often needed to be relaxed. And alcoholic drinks served as a doping agent for relaxation.➤ In the 30s of the twentieth century, communities of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) appeared.➤ And in the 70s, the term “Adult Children of Alcoholics” (abbreviated as ACA) was introduced. The number of children raised in families where the mother or father was dependent on alcohol reaches from 25% to 50% of the Russian population. The figure is terrifying. ACA groups operate all over the world. They are free and the 12-step program still works today. This is so far the only program that has justified its existence. Are ACA only the children of alcoholics? Alas, but no. I think the name has become so popular in the context of alcoholism precisely because in Russia, in general, very few people drink alcohol. ACA also includes people who lived in a family where at least one of its members (usually a parent, but maybe a grandparent living with the family) suffered from a mental illness. This could be a person with an addiction, and no matter what (food, work, drugs, sex, shopping, gambling), so does a person with a psychiatric diagnosis. And often you may never even know about the diagnosis, but only suspect. However, there are more dysfunctional families than just alcoholic parents. A dysfunctional family has its own characteristics, I will write about this in future articles. For now, let’s dwell on the signs of people included in the ACA group. Signs of ACA: fear of powerful and authoritative people, seeking approval, and as a result, losing oneself in this search, fear of criticism and anger of other people, taking responsibility for other people , the desire for control is both great self-control and the desire to control everything and everyone around (especially loved ones), frequent experience of one of the feelings: guilt / shame / anger / anxiety / loneliness, confusion between love and pity, the desire to save, inability to express one’s own feelings, and when trying to express it, it looks more like hysteria, cruel self-criticism, which a person may not even notice, lack of self-esteem, great fear of being abandoned, abandoned, rejected, abandoned, reaction to the actions of others instead of his own active actions, a feeling of emotional dependence on someone else or others or, conversely, a feeling of absolute independence from others, difficulty in adapting, fear of changes (even good ones), lack of psychological flexibility, desire to break rules, inconsistency of actions. Of course, if you find one of the listed signs, this is not about does not say anything, but if you notice that some of the points coincide, this is a good reason to think about the home atmosphere in which you grew up. If you are looking for a good enough specialist for in-depth work, come for a consultation, I will be happy to help you . Perhaps you are looking for me.