What The Hell Does Being Codependent Mean?
At its most basic, being codependent means trying to control things that aren’t within our control out of fear. Obsessive control. Compulsive control. Fixing things. Fixing people. Trying to predict all the possible outcomes of what we are going to say or do, in the belief that we can make sure we get the best outcome – or avoid the worst. When we…. • worry about how other people perceive us • change how we think or act so that they will respond to us the right way • avoid bringing something up in order not to “rock the boat” • struggle with making even simple decisions like what flavor of ice cream to get (because we have to pick the right one – what if we just pick one and then we’re sad we don’t have the other? what if that’s what we really wanted?) • can’t identify our emotions much of the time • aren’t sure what we really want much of the time • put energy and attention into being able to tell when others are angry or sad even when they don’t say anything about it • have been do
