Codependency Resources

Codependency may stem from early experiences of peer pressure as a teenager, growing up in a dysfunctional family background, or living through traumatic or abusive relationships. These occurrences often signal to your brain the message that, to be accepted, you need to change your behaviors to fit in. This may include abuse of addictive substances.

With the right help, yes. Codependent people fixate on the messages that they are “defective,” “less than,” or “unworthy.” Experts agree that from these beliefs comes a mental conditioning that you should compulsively conform to what other people think in attempts to find acceptance. Codependency is a learned behavior, and what is learned can be unlearned. In other words, proper codependency treatment can allow you to learn to accept who you are, and thus become less likely to rely on drugs, alcohol, other people, or their opinions of you for happiness by instead finding happiness within yourself.