Are you codependent? Addiction Codependency Assessment

It is not uncommon for family members to become codependent to a substance user.

Substance users almost certainly become dependent on family. Over time, some family members may feel they are needed in the relationship or feel the enabling is a necessary evil to keep their loved one from going over the edge. As unhealthy roles in a family system form to balance out the destruction brought on by of the addiction, so too do codependent behaviors. Although the term dogma does not refer specifically to codependency, it has a certain relevance. Dogma is a set of assumptions and beliefs from an outside authority that guides one’s actions and behaviors. Codependency is similar in that one gives up one’s principles and view of reality, deferring to the reality of the substance user. Addiction can be viewed as the authority not to be questioned, as the new normal or standard. The reasons why people avoid intervention and therapeutic confrontation often result from some form of codependency coupled by fear of what might be lost if we cease doing what we’re doing for the substance user. Codependent individuals may believe they are doing something fulfilling for the substance user and will eventually see they were equally receiving some form of fulfillment for themselves. It is important to understand what codependency and enabling are doing to you rather than for the substance user. Being consumed with trying to support the substance user’s life puts at risk control of one’s own life.