Every time Loni felt a surge of catastrophic fantasies taking over, she opened up her journal and forced herself to look at her fear rationally. Several months later, Loni laughed and blushed as she told me about the way her negative intuitions had sent her into a tailspin of fear. You know, I actually had myself half convinced I was going to end up a Bag Lady. All because of that stupid picture. Abandonment, physical and emotional, is a reality in alcoholic homes.
Alcoholic fathers are frequently autocratic and unreasonable in their demands.
They view themselves as always right and anyone who fails to live up to their standards as always wrong. They have you believing they are always considerate and always thinking of your needs first. They can't understand why you are so inconsiderate and selfish in return. Of course, this is nonsense. Children frequently come to believe it is their own badness that makes Daddy drink, makes Mommy miserable, makes Daddy slam out the door and stay away for hours and hours.