As for me, I have two totally different opinions of myself. One part thinks (knows) that I am a professional, very good at my job, highly favored by my boss, great with my students, goal oriented, proficient, organized, outgoing, fun, creative, friendly, loved by many, spiritual, and a great person all around.

The flip side tells me that I am not a good wife, I am not a good caregiver, I am not the best I can be, I am disappointed in how I look, Nobody likes me, Nobody really loves me, I am falling apart at the seams trying to hold it all together, and I just want out of this!

I am not sure how much bipolar plays in this, but I have complete opposite views of myself. The problem is that I (we) tend to dwell on what we are 'not' and don't pay enough attention to what we 'are'.

I don't know that I can blame my parents for any of this. I know that many on here believe that these type of issues go back to those early years in childhood. For me, that is not the case. These issues came up for me in my late teens, early twenties.

As a parent, I sure hope that my children won't be in therapy talking about how I messed them up by not being this, or that. I did the best I knew to do when raising them. I hope that I did a good job and helped them to become confident, professional, happy, and successful adults. I know that I had issues while raising them, but I pray that the good in me far outweighed any negative things I may have done.