7 Signs Your Family is Dysfunctional
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In a dysfunctional family, members often cause each other harm and hurt instead of nurturing loving relationships. The causes for this could range from lack of attention, abuse, conflicts, violence, vices or lies. Here are a few signs that your family could be dysfunctional.
1. Centralized control
One of the common signs of a dysfunctional family is that only one or two members of the family take decisions for the rest of the family members. Individual opinion is thwarted and all family members are not given an equal say in any matter. This could include anything from parents not allowing children to meet their friends or a husband not allowing his wife to call her friends home. You could have a dysfunctional family if your family has a similar power structure.
2. Broken relationships
A family which has broken relationships can be a dysfunctional family. This includes a husband and wife who are not on talking terms but don’t choose to get divorced. This can cause an atmosphere of stress in the family. A broken relationship may also include a teenage child who does not talk to his parents but still lives in the same house like a stranger for his or her own reasons. Families that maintain relationships only for the name sake without any care or affection can be dysfunctional.
3. Abuses
If there is any kind of abuse that happens in a household, it can have many negative repercussions for the family. It can lead to violence, frustration, stress and most importantly a lack of safety. An easy way to spot a dysfunctional family is to see if there is any type of abuse which is tolerated by family members, whether physical or emotional.
4. Addictions
Addictions and vices including drugs and alcohol can rupture a family’s foundation and make it dysfunctional. A dysfunctional family will often have a chronic alcoholic who steals money from others and spends it away or a teenager who is in and out of rehabilitation facilities for drug abuse. When a family has members who are addicted to vices, they are likely to be living in an unhappy environment.
5. Increased co-dependency
Co-dependency between a pair of individuals in a family occurs when a person gives excessive importance to a relationship at the cost of his or her own happiness. This makes the co-dependent person put futile effort in trying to save a relationship which is anyway empty and beyond repair. Co-dependent relationships are extremely parasitic and are known to cause anxiety and angst in the family, making it dysfunctional.
6. Fear
A sign of a dysfunctional family is when the kids or other youngsters are afraid of the adults for no reason. Because of extreme behavior on part of the adults, kids become petrified to maintain relationships with them. This makes them think about moving out. They may also chose to deal with their problems themselves for which they could even take a wrong step or do something inappropriate.
7. Breakdown of communication
All the above mentioned factors can lead to a breakdown of communication in a dysfunctional family. Whether family members are afraid of each other, they are addicts, they are highly co-dependent or engage in any kind of abuse, they start living life on their own terms and stop connecting with each other. No one in the family feels the need to seek each other’s support to grow, which makes lack of communication a recognizable sign of a dysfunctional family.
