Codependency and addiction are often linked, with codependency being an addiction to an addict and the healing and enabling that a codependent person experiences with the addict. The codependent helps the addict stay addicted, and with each act of enabling, the codependent only increases their dependence on the relationship. Many people who develop addictions later in life have early experiences of codependency.
The connection between addiction and codependency is, more or less, twofold. In general, codependency is often part of a relationship between an addict and someone else in their life. Someone who is in a relationship with another person who has an addiction will typically exhibit aspects of codependency. Codependency itself, however, can also be considered an addiction, specifically an addiction to an addict and the healing and enabling that a codependent person experiences with the addict. Addiction and codependency often go hand-in-hand, and many addicts have prior experiences as codependents in their past.
One of the easiest ways to understand the connections between addiction and codependency is to first consider what each term means. Addiction is, in general, a psychological or physiological compulsion or a need to do something. This often involves some type of chemical addiction, such as drugs or alcohol, although other forms of addiction can be equally potent. Codependency usually refers to the state of a person other than the actual addict having a relationship with the person suffering from an addiction. This codependent may be a spouse, child, sibling, or any other important person in the addict’s life.
The link between addiction and codependency typically forms when the codependent acts in a way that allows the addict to continue their addiction. A codependent will often suffer from low self-esteem and their sense of worth comes from the relationship they have with the addict. Someone who is codependent will often make excuses for an addict, perhaps helping them with money and allowing the addiction to continue. But addiction and codependency don’t simply involve an effort to help someone continue an addiction, as the codependent actually thrives on the relationship.
The codependent is typically addicted to his or her relationship with the addict, and cannot detach from him or her any more easily than the addict could detach from whatever is enabled for him or her. This type of relationship becomes mutually destructive, and the interplay of addiction and codependency often makes it more difficult for each person in the relationship to extract themselves from the situation. The codependent helps the addict stay addicted, and with each act of enabling the codependent only increases their dependence on the relationship.
In fact, the term “codependent” comes from the idea that an addict is dependent on the object of his addiction while the other person depends on the addiction for his or her needs. There is also a tendency for addiction and codependency to potentially be indicative of each other in the future. Many people who develop addictions later in life have early experiences of codependency, typically as a child to someone suffering from an addiction. These children may unknowingly allow their parents to continue their addiction and eventually find themselves becoming addicted and developing codependent relationships with others.
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