Codependency

If you give too much of yourself to the wrong people or the wrong situations, if you have a history of relying on what others think of you to determine how you perceive yourself, if you always come second to someone or something else, or if you are reliant on drugs or alcohol to get through the day, you may have fallen into a pattern of codependency.

We all want and need to be accepted, valued, and loved, but sometimes the ways in which people seek validation and determine their self-worth might be detrimental to their physical and mental health.

As a codependent person, you may feel as if you’ve been away from yourself for so long that you’ve simply lost sight of what is real, no longer remembering what it is to truly be yourself.

Clearview Treatment Programs can help you regain your sense of self and break the cycle of codependency so you can be happier, healthier, and more self-reliant.

What Does Codependency Look Like?

Codependency is a serious mental health issue, and those affected commonly endure damaged self-worth, low self-esteem, and an inability to get out of dysfunctional relationships.

Codependency can lead to difficulty in identifying emotions because of an individual’s experience with having their emotions, thoughts, and experiences constantly minimized, trivialized, and denied.

While these habits are often deeply ingrained and typically rooted in childhood traumas, codependency is completely reversible with the proper treatment and counseling.

Knowing how to identify codependent behaviors and when professional help is necessary can help start clients on the path to recovery. If you identify with some of the symptoms listed below, our codependency treatment may be for you.

  • Basing your self-worth on what others think or say about you
  • Difficulty with making decisions on your own
  • Judging what you think, say, or do harshly or as never being good enough
  • Feeling embarrassed by or unworthy of receiving recognition, praise, or gifts
  • Valuing other people’s approval of your thinking, feelings, and behavior over your own
  • Perceiving yourself as unlovable or unworthy of love
  • Difficulty with admitting to making mistakes
  • Having the constant need to appear in the right and even lying to look good to others
  • The inability to identify or ask for what you need and want
  • Difficulty at work, with meeting deadlines, and with completing projects without help
  • Trouble with establishing healthy priorities and boundaries
  • Remaining in harmful situations and unhealthy relationships for too long
  • Compromising your own values and integrity to avoid rejection or anger
  • Believing loved ones are incapable of taking care of themselves
  • Becoming addicted to people, places, and things to distract yourself from establishing intimate relationships
  • Avoiding conflict or confrontation at all costs
  • Suppressing your feelings or needs to avoid feeling vulnerable
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Unresolved or untreated codependency may lead to serious problems, including substance abuse and addiction as well as eating disorders. People struggling with codependency are less likely to seek needed medical attention and more likely to remain in stressful or abusive relationships and unhealthy situations.

Left untreated, codependent behaviors can develop into social anxiety and stress-related disorders such as depression, ulcers, high blood pressure, headaches, respiratory issues, and cardiovascular problems.

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Treating Codependency

The first step in changing unhealthy behaviors is to understand where and why the behaviors started. During our codependency residential treatment and outpatient treatment programs, therapists gently guide clients, helping them explore the roots of their codependent behavior and find themselves again.

If you’re struggling with addiction along with codependency, our dual diagnosis treatment programs can start you on the path towards addiction recovery, while treating your codependency symptoms.

A better and happier life lies in learning more about how to better love yourself. The more you understand codependency, the better you can cope with its effects. Reaching out for information and assistance can help you live a healthier, more fulfilling life.

Codependency FAQs

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 experiences often make clients believe that to be accepted, they need to change their behaviors to fit in. Codependency can also include or lead to substance abuse.
With the right help, yes. Codependent people fixate on the messages that they ‘defective’, ‘less than’, or ‘unworthy’. These beliefs can cause people to compulsively conform to what other people think to be accepted. Codependency is a learned behavior and what’s learned can be unlearned. Proper codependency treatment can help clients with self-acceptance and can help them become less reliant on drugs, alcohol and other people for their happiness.