Codependency is the Key to a Happy Family Life

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Introduction

Codependence is an unhealthy, destructive mental or behavioral condition developed by a person who depends on other people or even things for his satisfaction. This dependence is a form of addiction and it can be on people, drugs, alcohol, work, or even beliefs. It was initially used to describe people living with alcohol and drug abusers (Lancer 1). A codependent person sacrifices or ignores his or her happiness, needs, feelings, emotions, and interests and lives according to other people’s needs (H. Wright and D. Wright 528). Such a person cares much about other things more than his own. It is mostly developed by members of a dysfunctional family that is undergoing a great pain or stress such as death, illness, chemical dependency, divorce, poverty, violence, sexual abuse, or even harsh environment (Codependency: People who care too much 1). Since it is a learned condition, children can learn it from their parents and pass it down to other generations.

Codependency is diversely characterized. Some symptoms include; Low self-esteem, a person compares himself to others and feels that he is not good enough; People pleasing, one does everything to please the people he cares about without a choice; Poor boundaries, demonstrated by poor or no limits at all to protect one’s interests, and instead one feels responsible for other people’s wellbeing; Reactivity, where a person reacts to other people’s thoughts, opinions, and feelings by believing them or becoming defensive due to poor boundaries; Caretaking, one gives up his needs, ignores his problems and tries to solve other people’s problems. Such people feel bad when their help is rejected; Control, one takes measures not to expose his feelings to those he cares about....

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...d low self-esteem among others. Codependency is treated by first looking back on where it developed and starting training on ways of eliminating it. Seeking help from Psychotherapists or councilors is also another way of treating codependency.

Conclusion

Though Codependency is an unhealthy condition with serious effects on the affected person, it has been shown to contribute to happiness mostly in dysfunctional families. It is a way of coping with difficult times facing a family that is not ready to solve its problems. It arises from family roles played by different family members from a dysfunctional family. As discussed above it brings happiness to all family members but, the codependent one suffers psychologically and emotionally. To have total happiness in a family, members need to face and solve their problems instead of creating codependency in its members.