Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/are-you-a/5008307/
I have recently realized that I am a codependent and I am just learning what that means. I display codependent behaviors in my personal relationships, my family relationships, and in my professional relationships. My codependent behaviors affect my job as the director of an early childhood program. I am a very good director and a very nice and well liked person, but I am not healthy and I am not truly helping the people I want to help. And I am not unusual. Many codependents choose careers in the caring professions: nursing, teaching, social services, and early childhood.What is Codependency?
Codependency is a set of behaviors learned in childhood in order to cope and survive with the pain and stress of the family situation. Codependency is a disease. This disease is just as serious as alcoholism or any other addiction.
There is no standard definition. Robert Subby calls codependency "an emotional, psychological, and behavioral condition that develops as a result of an individual's prolonged exposure to, and practice of, a set of oppressive rules" (Cermak, 1986). These rules say:
_ Don't feel or talk about feelings.
_ Don't think.
_ Don't identify, talk about, or solve ...