Co-dependency can make it difficult to have healthy, intimate and loving relationships with other people, and with ourselves. Co-dependency can be described as a condition born of losing connection with our authentic self, thereby losing the ability to share our true self with others and be in healthy intimate relationships.
We may have learned to doubt our perceptions, diminish our feelings, and overlook our own personal needs. We may find ourselves looking to others to tell us what to think, what to feel and how to behave, thus becoming overly dependent on others. For others, co-dependency may present as being overly independent, finding it hard to rely on others, or struggling to trust anyone and allow them to become close.
The book “The Language of Letting Go” by Melody Beattie is a fantastic resource to help reflect on and recover from co-dependency.
