Codependency

The concept of codependency emerged in the 1980s within the addiction treatment movement, initially to describe partners of alcoholics who developed their own dysfunctional patterns. Melody Beattie popularised the term with her 1986 book, defining the codependent person as someone who lets another person's behaviour affect them excessively and is obsessed with controlling it. The concept quickly expanded beyond addiction to describe any relationship characterised by compulsive caregiving and loss of self-identity.

Codependent patterns include difficulty setting boundaries, excessive need for approval, a tendency to take responsibility for others' feelings, and denial of one's own emotional needs. Codependent individuals often feel responsible for others' well-being to the point of neglecting their own. This pattern can perpetuate destructive dynamics, as the compulsive caretaker inadvertently enables the other person's problematic behaviour. Standard treatment includes individual therapy, support groups such as CoDA (Co-Dependents Anonymous), and work on establishing healthy boundaries.

However, the scientific validity of the codependency concept has been widely debated. Dear and Roberts pointed out that the term lacks a consensual definition and that existing measurement instruments have significant psychometric problems. Some critics argue that codependency pathologises caregiving behaviours that in many cultures are considered normal and valuable. Moreover, its absence from official diagnostic manuals (DSM and ICD) reflects insufficient empirical support for considering it an independent disorder, even though the patterns it describes are clinically recognisable.