Codependency is neither an officially recognized personality disorder nor an official mental illness. Rather, it is a unique psychological construct that shares significant overlap with other personality disorders.

What is the cause of codependency?

Codependency is usually rooted in childhood. Often, a child grows up in a home where their emotions are ignored or punished. This emotional neglect can give the child low self-esteem and shame. They may believe their needs are not worth attending to.

How do you treat codependency personality disorder?

The most effective treatment for codependency is therapy, whether group or individual, to understand the ways in which someone feels they must care-take for anothers emotional state. This work can be hard to identify in ourselves, so having a supportive professional help us untangle these relationships can be crucial.

What kind of disorder is codependency?

Dependent personality disorder is an official mental illness and is included in the DSM-5, while codependency is not. Dependent personality disorder involves an excessive need to be taken care of by others, while a person who is codependent is focused on one specific person.

What are the stages of codependency?

They range from mild to severe and include dependency, denial, dysfunctional emotional responses, craving and reward (through interaction with another person), and inability to control or abstain from compulsive behavior without treatment.

Do narcissists like codependents?

Codependents find narcissistic dance partners deeply appealing. They are perpetually attracted to their charm, boldness, confidence and domineering personality. When codependents and narcissists pair up, the dancing experience sizzles with excitement — at least in the beginning.

Why is codependency so addictive?

Codependents tend to be people-pleasers who put their relationship with someone else above their own interests, often to the detriment of both parties. Codependents tend to enable addicts because, subconsciously, they believe they need that addict to remain sick.

Are there levels of codependency?

Fact: There is a codependency continuum, with some people demonstrating more severe codependency than others. As previously discussed, codependency is not an official mental health diagnosis, so there are no standards that indicate that a person is either codependent or not.

Do narcissists go to counseling?

People with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) have personalities characterized by intense self-involvement and chronic disregard for others. People with NPD rarely seek therapy.