What is a toxic codependent?

Here are the basics: Codependent relationships happen between two individuals. One person is “troubled” and tends to absorb the other's energy and resources by behaving selfishly. The other person, the Codependent, compulsively takes care of the other at the cost of their own wellbeing and independence.


What are the signs of a codependent person?

Signs of codependency include:
  • Difficulty making decisions in a relationship.
  • Difficulty identifying your feelings.
  • Difficulty communicating in a relationship.
  • Valuing the approval of others more than valuing yourself.
  • Lacking trust in yourself and having poor self-esteem.


What are 10 characteristics of a codependent person?

Codependent Traits
  • Feeling responsible for solving others' problems. ...
  • Offering advice even if it isn't asked for. ...
  • Poor communication regarding feelings, wants, or needs. ...
  • Difficulty adjusting to change. ...
  • Expecting others to do as you say. ...
  • Difficulty making decisions. ...
  • Chronic anger. ...
  • Feeling used and underappreciated.


What is an example of codependent behavior?

Common Codependent Behaviors

Emotional bullying. Caretaking to the detriment of our own wellness. Caregiving. Suffocating.

How do you break toxic codependency?

Some healthy steps to healing your relationship from codependency include:
  1. Start being honest with yourself and your partner. ...
  2. Stop negative thinking. ...
  3. Don't take things personally. ...
  4. Take breaks. ...
  5. Consider counseling. ...
  6. Rely on peer support. ...
  7. Establish boundaries.


What is Toxic Codependency?



What triggers codependency?

Codependency issues typically develop when someone is raised by parents who are either overprotective or under protective. Overprotective parents may shield or protect their children from gaining the confidence they need to be independent in the world.

Do codependents love?

A codependent relationship can look like love, but it isn't. Love is predicated on choice, the choice to support and care for another. If you are dependent on another person for your emotional security and welfare, then the relationship is no longer based on love. Instead, it is based on need.

Are codependents narcissistic?

People with narcisissm can also be codependent

People who have narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) can also experience codependency, due to the attention they're getting from their relationship. Since both conditions are rooted in an unhealthy reliance on other people, it's common to have overlap.


What are four symptoms involved in codependency?

Signs of Codependency
  • Poor boundaries with others.
  • Low-self esteem.
  • Caretaking.
  • Obsessions.
  • A need for control.
  • Difficulty making decisions.
  • Trouble identifying or communicating thoughts, feelings or needs.
  • Chronic anger or strong, emotional reactions.


How do codependents think?

Codependency is when we choose the thoughts that keep us feeling dependent on others and how they feel as a way to validate ourselves. This extreme of codependency is just as unhealthy and just as damaging to relationships and to ourselves as striving for the false notion of complete independence.

What are codependents afraid of?

Codependent fears

As a result, codependents tend to fear rejection, criticism, not being good enough, failure, conflict, vulnerability, and being out of control. So, situations and people that trigger these fears can spike our anxiety.


Do codependents have empathy?

Empaths can have codependent tendencies but not all codependents are empaths. The difference is that empaths absorb the stress, emotions, and physical symptoms of others, something not all codependents do.

What do codependents want?

A person who is codependent will plan their entire life around pleasing the other person, or the enabler. In its simplest terms, a codependent relationship is when one partner needs the other partner, who in turn, needs to be needed.

What mental illness is codependency?

It is an emotional and behavioral condition that affects an individual's ability to have a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship. It is also known as “relationship addiction” because people with codependency often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive and/or abusive.


Do codependents have friends?

Codependent friendships can swallow you up becoming the most important relationship in your life; you might even feel like you cant live without this friendship. Healthy friendships meet the needs of both people. Its normal for there to be some imbalance in the short-term, but things should balance out over time.

What does unhealthy codependency look like?

Symptoms of codependency.

Feeling heavily reliant on others to be content. Feeling needy of others' attention and approval. Feeling empty and unfulfilled. May feel irritated or angry often.

What trauma leads to codependency?

Childhood trauma is often a root cause of codependency. They don't always result, but for many people codependent relationships are a response to unaddressed past traumas. One reason may be that childhood trauma is usually family-centered: abuse, neglect, domestic violence, or even just divorce and fighting.


What attachment style do codependents have?

Anxious attachment is what is most often referred to as codependent. Those with anxious attachment often feel as though they would like to be close to others or one person in particular but they worry that another person may not want to be close to them. They struggle with feeling inferior, never good enough.

What is the best therapy for codependency?

While some individuals may be able to break out of patterns of codependent behavior on their own, often it requires professional treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps individuals focus on understanding behaviors and changing reactions.

Are codependents angry?

Codependents have a lot of anger they don't know how to manage it effectively. They're frequently partner with people who contribute less than they do, who break promises and commitments, violate their boundaries, or disappointment or betray them.


Are codependent liars?

Lying to themselves and making excuses for others' bad behavior. Because codependents do not deal directly with their feelings, they develop techniques to lie to themselves about others' behaviors.

Can codependents be manipulative?

The codependent manipulates themselves as well. Their need for perfection keeps them going in order to avoid failure. They often have two speeds: all or nothing. Manipulating Others – Their desire for perfection often seeps onto others.

Is codependent clingy?

Is Codependency the Same Thing as Clinginess? Codependency refers to the state of needing to have another person validate you, depend upon you, and make sacrifices for you to prove their love to you. It's a dysfunctional relationship pattern that may involve clinginess when your partner isn't there.


Why are codependents so needy?

Codependents are needy, demanding, and submissive. They suffer from abandonment anxiety and, to avoid being overwhelmed by it, they cling to others and act immaturely. These behaviors are intended to elicit protective responses and to safeguard the "relationship" with their companion or mate upon whom they depend.

Do codependents trust issues?

Codependents have issues with trust. They're prone to distrust people or the reverse. They trust too easily. Frequently, they do both.