Children of Alcoholics Have Difficulty Having Fun

Children of Alcoholics Have Difficulty Having Fun Addiction Alcohol Use Children of Alcoholics Print Children of Alcoholics Have Difficulty Having Fun Real Stories From Children of Alcoholics By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on July 11, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on February 17, 2018 Children of Alcoholics Face Many Challenges. © Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Children of Alcoholics Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Drunk Driving Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery One of the characteristics that many children who had an alcoholic parent report is difficulty having fun. Because they carry around so much anger, or because they have had so many events and holidays sabotaged by the alcoholic parent, they dont even expect to have fun. Many children who grow up in an alcoholic home seem to have many common characteristics, and one of them is not being able to let loose and just have fun. Visitors to the Verywell.com Alcoholism site who answered the question, How Do You Feel Growing Up With an Alcoholic Parent Has Changed You? describe what its like: Never Able to Let LooseIve always felt different from other people, never able to let loose and have fun at social events, and always feeling alone. Everything is a competition to me; I feel like I always need to be the best, or Im a failure. I struggle with my identity and I still dont have an answer to that who am I question. Im trying my best to make sense of everything Ive discovered about myself, but its been trying and very painful. -- J.B. Happiness Feels FakeMy happiness when present feels fake because I know it will always be overshadowed by some horrible incident. There are times when I feel as though I do not want to live because the pain is too great. How sad. -- Love The Anger Is Still ThereAs a teenager, I felt alone and angry and always took this out on people closest to me. I would say to myself, I will be happier when this happens, when I get this job or move out. But over the years I have realized the anger and sadness are still there. -- Hailey I Cannot Go Have FunI grew up never feeling like I was normal, never feeling like I was good enough. Now I have such low self-esteem its crippling. I can not go out and have fun like normal adults. -- Taylor Stunted My EmotionsI think growing up with an alcoholic step-father has stunted my emotions, seems I get saddened easily, but the happy emotions are very low. Things people are normally jumping up and down about dont give me the same amount of excitement. Dont get me wrong, I still feel happiness, but not to the extent most people do. -- Biggie Affected by Parental Alcoholism If you grew up in a home where there was a lot of drinking, you may want to take this quiz to determine to what extent you may have been affected by the experience. If your life has been affected, you might want to seek help through professional counseling or find support in either Al-Anon Family Groups or the support group Adult Children of Alcoholics. If you have a drinking problem and you have children in the home, they are being affected by your drinking and your behavior psychologically and emotionally more than you may realize. You may want to try to find help to quit or cut back on the amount of alcohol that you consume. How Growing up Around Drinking Can Impact Kids Into Adulthood