Welcome to Recovery-World Co-Dependency!
Please feel to share your recovery, experiences, problems and hope
to other members in our group. Utilize all our resources: online meetings,
chat rooms, email meetings and forums.
Codependency is a progressive
disease brought about by child abuse, which takes the form of anything "less
than nurturing." Codependency is epidemic (maybe all of us are codependent)
and defines a vast array of psychological and physical symptoms. The caring manifested
by codependents is an unconscious effort to keep repressed pain at bay,
and the codependent actually contributes to the addictive behavior of their
loved ones by enabling. Enabling keeps the loved one addicted so the codependent
can go on caring to gain a sense of self worth. Recovery from codependency requires
drastic attitude and lifestyle change (Detachment) and a lifelong commitment
to the 12-step regime.
Co-dependency is a learned behavior that
can be passed down from one generation to another. It is an emotional and behavioral
condition that affects an individual’s ability to have a healthy, mutually
satisfying relationship. It is also known as “relationship addiction” because
people with codependency often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided,
emotionally destructive and/or abusive. The disorder was first identified
about ten years ago as the result of years of studying interpersonal relationships
in families of alcoholics. Co-dependent behavior is learned by watching and
imitating other family members who display this type of behavior.
Co-dependency
often affects a spouse, a parent, sibling, friend, or co-worker
of a person afflicted with alcohol or drug dependence. Originally, co-dependent
was a term used to describe partners in chemical dependency, persons living with,
or in a relationship with an addicted person. Similar patterns have been seen
in people in relationships with chronically or mentally ill individuals. Today,
however, the term has broadened to describe any co-dependent person from any
dysfunctional family.
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