Codependency

Shrink Definition

Codependency is a pattern of putting another person's needs so far ahead of your own that your sense of worth depends on being needed. It often grows around a loved one's struggle, where helping tips into controlling or losing yourself. The care is real, but the boundaries and self are missing. Healthier love keeps both people whole.

Plain language

Losing yourself by making another person's needs your whole worth.

Shrink Insight

You can't pour from a self you have given entirely away.

Why it matters

It shapes relationships around addiction, illness, or crisis, where helping can quietly become losing yourself. Naming it supports care that keeps boundaries and self-worth intact.

Common misunderstanding

People hear codependency as just being caring or loyal. It specifically means over-responsibility that erases your own needs and identity.

Shrink Perspective

Real help doesn't require disappearing.

Shrink Reflection

Where does my helping cross into losing myself?

Shrink Step

Name one need of your own you have been ignoring, and honor it today.

Shrink Minute

Notice one place you feel responsible for a feeling that's not yours to fix.

Shrink Takeaway

Caring for someone shouldn't mean vanishing.

Medical boundary

Evidence summary

A widely used clinical concept with descriptive support, though it lacks a single agreed definition or measure.