05-19-2026
Too many adults are very unhappy and sometimes functioning very poorly as adults because of growing up with toxic parents in dysfunctional homes that had various degrees of instability, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and just emotionally unhealthy conditions. At a minimum, it was bad modeling and children coming from these homes as adults often find it very
hard to know what is appropriate behavior in relationships with people ranging from short term interactions to close friends and family members in a stable manner. This instability can lead to poor relationships, poor academic achievement, lacking trust in others, anger, poor employment behavior, eating disorders, inappropriate sexual behaviors, anxiety, PTSD, depression and poor self-esteem. In order to overcome these problems as adults, it is important that the person let go emotionally and physically from parents and family members who are toxic and cause them emotional distress. Emotional healing is done by accepting what happened and see the poor behavior of their parents for what it really was. Do not try to sugarcoat it and not allow these previous bad parental behaviors to control who you are as a person now. You need to learn to trust others based on how they are treating you. When you determine who you can trust, you can then be honest with them to gain some insight into your behaviors and how you look at life. As appropriate, seek out a trained therapist with experience with adults who grew up in dysfunctional and psychologically devastating homes to learn the right path to personal satisfaction and not allowing the past to destroy the present and future. The combination of counseling and the person learning to make good decisions in relationships with others can lead to a successful and happy life in the present, which means there will be a good future with the emotional and physical destruction from the past put in its appropriate dumpster and not being allowed to be destructive as you lead hopefully a happy and successful life. It is critical adults who grew up in dysfunctional toxic homes not allow their parents who mistreated them to negatively impact their ability to lead successful lives with others and themselves in the present.