My childhood was normal + fine so I shouldn't feel like something's wrong with me
I hear this all the time and have 2 things to say right out of the gate. "normal" and "shouldn't" Normal. Our childhood is always our "normal." It's all we know. "It's normal that people don't have time for me and I spend lots of time alone" "It's normal that I have to take care of others because the people around me are anxious." "It's normal that I have to take charge because no one else will." It's our default; our baseline; our "this is the way it is." It's what we base o