Signs of Codependency & Addiction (Impacts & Negative Effects)

What is Codependency?

Codependency defines a relationship in which one partner has extreme physical or emotional needs, and the other partner spends most of their time responding to those needs as informal caregivers, often to the detriment of the codependent partner’s life, activities, and other relationships. 

Codependency can result in a difficult spiral in which the codependent partner cares for and enables the loved one’s challenges, making it easier for the loved one to maintain the challenging or destructive behaviors.

What is Codependency in Addiction?

Codependency in addiction refers to an unhealthy dynamic where a person becomes overly focused on the needs or behaviors of someone struggling with addiction or in recovery—often at the expense of their own well-being.

How Codependency and Addiction Are Connected

Codependency does not always co-occur with drug use, but it was first recognized in relation to family members of people struggling with alcohol use disorder.¹

Codependency often develops in those who have close relationships with people who struggle with addiction. It can manifest in various ways, including:

• Partners who both misuse drugs.
• Close adult family members or significant others using drugs.
• Children of people who misuse drugs or struggle with addiction.

The codependent partner in the relationship is not necessarily a romantic one. Often, children of people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol become codependent, especially when an addiction has gone so far that the child feels the need to take on a caretaker role with the parent.

Negative Effects and Risks for the Codependent Partner

When a person is in a codependent relationship with someone who is misusing drugs, both individuals may experience multiple negative effects and even risks based on the situation. 

For example, studies indicate that there can be serious implications not only to the family dynamics surrounding codependent relationships, but also to the health of the codependent individual.2

The emotional toll of codependency in addiction can affect almost every area of the supporting partner’s life. Some of the most common risks include:²

• An increased likelihood of also developing addictions to substances, food, or gambling, for instance.
• Strained or lost relationships with those outside the codependent relationship.
• An inability to keep up with other responsibilities outside of the codependent relationship, such as neglect of work, parenting, or self-care.

Codependency and substance abuse often create a dynamic wherein the codependent partner becomes consumed by the other person’s addiction. Therefore, codependency generally results in the individual working so hard to care for the addicted loved one that the codependent individual’s needs are neglected, which can also result in poor health, low self-esteem, depression, and other mental and physical health consequences.

How Codependency Affects the Person Struggling with Addiction

As for the addicted person, codependency can create a harmful cycle that not only worsens addiction, but also blocks progress in recovery.

Codependent relationships often enable substance use. The codependent person may genuinely want to help their loved one, but may also subconsciously fear that the other person will no longer need them if the addiction is resolved. 

This fear can lead to behaviors that discourage treatment or downplay the severity of the addiction, thwarting any truly effective attempts to get help. As a result, the loved one continues to struggle with addiction and may be at an increased risk of additional physical and mental health problems.

Research shows that codependency can continue to pose a risk even after addiction treatment begins. Because the codependent partner may rely on the addiction to maintain their role in the relationship, they may consciously or unconsciously engage in behaviors that actually increase the likelihood of relapse in their loved one.²

Treating Codependency and Substance Abuse

When someone struggling with addiction is also in a codependent relationship, it’s important that unhealthy relationship dynamics are addressed during treatment.

Many evidence-based rehab programs now offer support for family members and loved ones—not just the individual receiving treatment for addiction.  

For example, research shows that when family members are involved in treatment and educated about addiction and recovery, as well as patterns of codependency, , it can support long-term recovery even after formal treatment ends.3

Seeking Separate Treatment Programs

In more severe cases of codependency, it can be helpful for the codependent partner to seek their own treatment program. Psychiatric professionals can provide behavioral and personal therapy to improve the codependent individual’s self-image and ability to set goals, define needs, and draw boundaries that make it possible to have a stronger sense of self-worth, deeper emotional intimacy, and healthier relationships.

The Importance of Drawing Boundaries to Mitigate Codependency

One of the most important elements of treating codependency in addiction is learning how to set boundaries. 

For both the addicted personand the codependent partner, setting boundaries can help to restore a healthier relationship and, in turn, make recovery more likely. 

Some of the steps in beginning to draw healthy boundaries include:

• Learning that having needs and preferences different from the loved one is OK.
• Defining personal emotions, rather than what “should” be felt.
• Setting limits on one’s own behavior as well as others’ behaviors.
• Being able to recognize and pursue one’s own needs rather than those of others.
• Respecting one’s own boundaries as well as the boundaries of others.

By learning to establish boundaries, the codependent person and the individual struggling with addiction can learn how to create a healthier relationship, making it more likely that treatment will have a positive outcome for both partners.