Introduction to Co-Dependency

Co-dependency can seriously impact your life as well as the lives of those around you. While this situation can be complex, the root of co-dependency is becoming so addicted to another person that you feel the need to control them or you allow their behavior to affect you. In taking ownership of another person's problems, someone who is co-dependent may obtain their own sense of well-being from managing the behaviors of the other person.
This situation can become so severe that the person actually begins to focus their entire lives on the person they believe they are trying to help. Such relationships can become particularly dangerous when they involve two people who are intimately involved with one another. The results of such behavior can be serious and devastating. Someone who is co-dependent may increasingly tolerate behavior that is completely unacceptable, they may deny the severity of the their own personal damage, they might begin to compromise their own personal values and may also experience a decline in their physical, mental and spiritual health.
Sadly, in many cases persons who are co-dependent may not even realize they are actually enabling. They may believe they are doing the right thing but often experience guilt because their efforts have simply not been enough to bring about change in the other person. They might also feel as though it is their fault or is if they have done something to cause the other person to lose control. They often believe that if they simply tried harder they could make the other person change.
Co-dependency is a pain-filled and devastating cycle. Individuals involved in this type of relationship frequently experience fear and shame but feel as though they are completely alone. They may make poor personal decisions, including developing addictions of their own. While the path to recovery from co-dependency can be long and difficult, it is possible to heal.