My wife and I also come from very dysfunctional childhoods. It's an ongoing process, but I think it's safe to say we've both really graduated from the healing and recovery from it. We actually work very specific, structured recovery processes which are not easy. These processes we work out on paper, with actual homework, working with older people who have also done the work and recovered and moved on. Men work with men and women work with women. We don't need to be captive to these things forever! However, if we don't do the actual work then the chance exists that we will just wallow in it forever, because self pity feels reeeal, real good. In the meantime, during that recovery work, our lives still exist. We have families to raise and take care of. However, if we are doing the work then life just gets better and better all the time.