Post on Healing from Family Rifts

This is a post that I put onto the discussion board, where what's being discussed is social disfunction possibly having roots from one's family dysfunction (which I am sure to an extent it does):

I relate a lot with what people are saying, but I don't know that it comes from our circumstances alone. I know people that are happy with their family et, but would not fit into the stereotyped "norms"of social niceties (especially if you really knew them, and didn't superficially know them). And then again, we all kind of have the "skeleton" in the closet that can be pulled out as the reason.

I suppose my family life had something to do with my non-trusting nature, but I think equally were the mean spirited kids in school (pre-college) and the politics of corporate America. I can't tell you how much both those things shaped how I look at the world, but I think they did a lot more than my dysfunctional family did.

I sort of always knew we weren't "right" or "the same" as other families. Even when I was a kid, I wondered if I would be talking to my parents later in life. It just didn't seem plausible that we would EVER really get along. If it weren't for certain physical characteristics that are dead on, I would really question whether Iwas switched at birth or something LOL. There are also some personality similiarities.

I don't deny that the relationship had something to do with it, but a lot of environmental factors outside that relationship did too.AFter all, I pretty much always rebelled against being the way my parents were (and for a while my grandparents too). So they never influenced me growing up or becoming who I wanted to be good or bad.I guess what I am trying to say, is if you switched out my family, the result would have been similar I think. Not sure, but I think so, except I might have had the love and support of my parents. Maybe that lack of drive would have made me a bad person .