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From: medley@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Depression and (oh, no!) vitamins
Message-ID: <31200033@uiucdcs>
Date: Mon, 24-Feb-86 12:09:00 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.31200033
Posted: Mon Feb 24 12:09:00 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Feb-86 01:12:16 EST
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Nf-From: uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU!medley    Feb 24 11:09:00 1986



Adult children of alcoholics are more likely to have episodes of depression
tan other folks.  If vitamins help you, great.  But if you are in the middle
of a depression and feel that you have never satisfactorily worked through
the problems caused by your unhappy childhood, there is help available.  

Alcoholics Anonymous has groups for families of alcoholics (Al-Anon),
teenaged children of alcoholics (Ala-Teen), and now there are groups forming
for adult children of alcoholics.  The latter are particularly good for those
in the situation described.  The parent(s) are probably dead, possibly for 
many years, and much of the conversation in the other groups is geared to
dealing with a current situation.  In the adult - child - of groups, the
emphasis is on the individual, and how to overcome the lasting personality
traits we have been left with.  Two of the most important things are realizing
that these traits are more the rule than the exception in adult children of 
alcoholics (i.e. WE ARE NOT ALONE), and that there are effective ways to 
learn to deal with your life in spite of whatever may have happened to you.

Most AA chapters have phone numbers in the front pages of local phone books
with other important service.