Oh man, was it EVER the same for me! My parents' normal method of communication was screaming at the top of their lungs. My dad was an alcoholic with a bad temper and was physically abusive. If I got angry and tried to stand up for myself, hoo boy, did I get it. My mom either stood there and watched or took his side.

It's funny, I read down a list of symptoms of PTSD recently. Any mental health professional who has ever spoken to me for more than 5 minutes has instantly diagnosed me with PTSD, but the flashbacks and stuff aren't usually that frequent for me and that's the only thing I think of when I hear "PTSD." But that list was eye-opening. Did you know one of the symptoms is "extremely inhibited anger"? :-) I'm so afraid of ending up like my parents that I absolutely refuse to get angry at anyone or anything but myself. (Somehow it's easy for me to do that!) My therapist has tried all sorts of things to make me express anger and as good as he is, nothing's worked yet. I'm kind of afraid that if I let it go even a little, I'll end up blowing up the whole world! :-)

<i><purple>There used to be a real me, but I had it surgically removed. -- Peter Sellers</purple></i>