CO-DEPENDENCY AND SUPPORT GROUPS 2
Running Head: CO-DEPENDENCY AND SUPPORT GROUPS.
CODEPENDENCY AND SUPPORT GROUPS.
Name
Institution
Co-dependency is a state in which a person who is taking care of a person who is an addict decides to overdo his or her actions to the point of neglecting their own needs and putting the needs of the addict first. It is also characterized by the person assisting by further making decisions for the other person and doing things on behalf of the addict like thinking for them. This is a behavioral pattern that usually occurs especially in close relationships with an addict. Support groups in this context are groups which people who face mutual challenges come together to help each other overcome them by acting as a support platform for other people in the same situation. Here, we shall discuss if co-dependency exists between family members or significant others of addicts and if there is any value of support groups to loved ones of the addict.
To begin with, I firmly believe that co-dependency exists between the family members or significant others of addicts in this society. This is indeed true because it is quite natural for someone to be inclined to help their loved one when he or she is facing a particular problem. The only problem comes in when the one helping decides to overdo their responsibility of supporting the addict (Barnett, 2016). Co-dependency, therefore, can be attributed to different causes or reasons.
One of the reasons why co-dependency exists between family members or significant others of addicts can be attributed to the upbringing of the one who decides to help the addict who we can refer to as here as the ‘helper’ (Watrak, 2017). Sometimes you might find out that the ‘helper’ comes from a family whereby he or she was not given attention from the parents or siblings while growing up. The lack of attention results in low self-esteem of the child and withdrawal of the child from social settings. Because of such negligence of attention in childhood, the ‘helper’ ends up forming relationships that are not stable especially with addicts as a significant partner.
Another practicable scenario which demonstrates that co-dependency exists is taking charge of the responsibilities and roles that need to be fulfilled by an addict by the ‘helper’ (Barnett, 2016). It always starts as helping an addict with some few errands or responsibilities until the ‘helper’ unknowingly starts taking full charge of the responsibilities that the addict needs to fulfill. For example, an addict might decide not to go to work, so the helper starts to develop the habit of lying to the boss regarding the absence of his or her employee. This action results in the addict maintenance of his or her old habits just because of what the ‘helper’ might be doing unknowingly.
There are also situations whereby the ‘helper’ decides to help an addict because he or she wants to feel needed by someone. This forms a platform for co-dependency to develop in the relationship between the two people (Watrak, 2017). The constant need of feeling wanted, or dependency of the ‘helper’ by the addict results to the addict not reforming his habits. The ‘helper’ in such situations end up allowing the addict to indulge in any activities regardless of any circumstances, provide whatever the addict wants and among other situations. Also, you might discover that the ‘helper’ as well might seek the art of receiving gratitude or Thanksgiving just from taking care of the addict to fill the void of him or her being needed by someone.
Lastly, let us discuss if there is any value gained from support groups for family members or significant others of an addict. I strongly agree that there is value in support groups for families of addicts in this society. Support groups are made up of people who share the same problem and can hold each other through the path of helping their loved ones from addiction recovery and their issues associated with the relationship with the addict. Here are some of the importance of support groups which make demonstrate their value in society.
Support groups are important for families with addicted members because they help in a further understanding of addiction and how to deal with it (Van Wormer & Davis, 2016). There are people among those groups who always know about coping with addiction that can help the family members with addicted loved ones. This is quite beneficial in the road of addiction recovery of the addicted person.
Another value gained from these support groups is coping with depression and emotional pain or stress. This mainly helps in solving the co-dependency of family members of addicted persons (Faulkner & Faulkner, 2019). Dealing with addicted people requires a lot of attention and patience which might result in a loved one setting all his or her time in taking care of the addict. This leads to depression due to lack of social life and also the judgment of the family by others because of the addict. The support groups also help in filling the void of someone who continually wants to feel needed or requires attention.
Another notable importance of support groups for family members with addicts is that a family member gets to the point of realization that treating addiction is doable and common when they meet other people who face similar challenges in addiction recovery of addicts (Van Wormer & Davis, 2016). This makes it much easier for the family member to adopt new skills and learn more information from others to enable him to deal with addiction more efficiently.
In conclusion, it is quite evident from the sources given that co-dependency indeed exists between family members or significant others and an addict. There are many factors as stated earlier and among others that lead to the development of co-dependency. Support groups are very beneficial in addiction recovery for families of addicts in many ways, and more people should adhere to join them to gain a more supportive system for their addiction recovery path.
References.
Barnett, R. (2016). Addict in the House: A No-Nonsense Family Guide Through Addiction and Recovery. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Faulkner, C. A., & Faulkner, S. (2019). Addictions Counseling: A Competency-Based Approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, USA.
Van Wormer, K., & Davis, D. R. (2016). Addiction treatment. Cengage Learning.
Watrak, A. (2017). Ways to fight with an alcoholism and the phenomenon of codependency in the family (Doctoral dissertation, Zakład Filozofii Nauki, Socjologii i Podstaw Techniki).