People who are in a difficult relationship with someone who is addicted to a substance may wonder if they are codependent. Codependency is an excessive emotional or psychological reliance on a loved one. Usually, the loved one has an addiction. It’s helpful to understand the signs of codependency so that you can seek treatment from a family therapy program if needed. Learn more about the five signs of codependency and reach out for help today.
1. Low Self-Esteem
When you are suffering from codependency, you will have an extreme sense of low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is one of the reasons why you may end up becoming so reliant on others. You could look to other people to fulfill an inner need for esteem. If you can’t find worthiness within yourself for who you are as a person, then it becomes easy to seek it elsewhere.
2. Craves the Approval of Others
Due to having low self-esteem, people with codependency will seek the approval of others. In fact, they crave this approval to help them feel okay. This could show itself in different ways. For example, if you struggle with codependency, you may always be doing things to impress or please your loved one, even if it means not being true to yourself. You may not even have a real clear identity because it is lost in the desire to please others.
3. Difficulty Communicating
Another one of the signs of codependency is difficulty communicating. Whether it’s about communicating your needs or communicating your hurts, if you are a codependent person, you will struggle to say what you mean. This could be, in part, because of your need for approval, your desire to please others, and possibly because you don’t know what you really want (which leads to the next sign).
4. Indecisiveness
Indecisiveness means you can’t make up your mind about things. You may have difficulty deciding life’s big decisions or struggle with even the small day-to-day decisions. Because of this problem, it is easy for others to take advantage of you. Since it’s challenging to make up your mind, others can push you into doing things.
5. Failure to Maintain Boundaries
As you can imagine, it’s challenging for a person suffering from codependency to establish and maintain boundaries. Because of low self-esteem and difficulty communicating, they often don’t tell others what their boundaries are. Even those who are close to them can overrun the boundaries without pushback.
Because of this issue, people with a codependent personality end up taking on others’ responsibilities as their own. This makes them vulnerable to becoming overloaded with too much care and “care-taking” jobs. Consequently, they don’t get enough care for themselves and end up losing themselves further in someone else’s identity. This problem requires the help of a family therapy addiction treatment plan.
Know the Signs of Codependency with Georgia Addiction Treatment Center
At Georgia Addiction Treatment Center, we understand the various signs of codependency and have treatments to help you navigate through this difficult issue. We use evidence-based treatment programs to bring healing to you and your loved one. We know that codependency always affects the family unit, so we customize a family therapy treatment plan for you.
With the aid of board-certified clinicians, you can find the pathway forward. Some of the therapies we offer include:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Trauma therapy program
- Individual therapy program
- Group therapy program
Start the process by contacting the rehab admissions coordinator today. Don’t allow family troubles involving codependency to hold you back from getting the help you need. Now that you know the signs of codependency, you can seek treatment for your family. Contact Georgia Addiction Treatment Center at [Direct] for more information.
