Broken Picker Syndrome and more cringe-worthy dating stories.

My name is Andrea and this is Adult Child.

Welcome back to Adult Child where we take a deep dive into the impact of growing up in

dysfunctional family. And today we are diving deep into one of the most common symptoms of being an adult child.

Broken Picker Syndrome, BPS, not to be confused with IBS, although BPS does have some of the same symptoms,

constipation, abdominal pain, diarrhea, all that fun stuff.

Now I'm going to read a few statements and I want you to see if any of these are applicable to you.

You date the same type of person over and over. For example, alcoholics, narcissists, workaholics,

cheaters, people who are physically, verbally or emotionally abusive.

You literally date the same person over and over. You stay in the same toxic relationship with the same toxic person.

You fall in love with someone's potential and not who they actually are.

You get into relationships that get super serious right out of the gate and then crash and burn quickly.

You stay in a relationship with someone who treats you poorly or does not meet your emotional needs in hopes that one day this will change.

You date someone with a track record of commitment issues or someone who flat out says they never want to get married in hopes that one day they're going to put a ring on it once they realize they can't live without you.

Now if any of those hit a nerve, then it's quite possible that you are suffering from broken Picker Syndrome.

You consistently find yourself in the wrong relationships with the wrong people and you can't figure out why.

Why the fuck do I keep finding myself in these unhealthy relationships?

Why am I stuck in self-destructive behaviors and why the hell can I never seem to learn my lesson?

Now BPS is not unique to adult children. I would say that most people find themselves in a less than ideal romantic relationship at least once in their life.

We figure out what we like. We figure out what we're looking for in a partner by figuring out what we don't like and what we're not looking for.

But what separates adult children from most other people is that our BPS is often chronic and progressive.

We figure out what we like is essentially the same thing as what we don't like and then we stay in these relationships.

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