Editing Codependency (section)

==Lack of formal definition==
Codependency has no established definition or diagnostic criteria within the mental health community.<ref name="advpsych" /><ref name="sanderson">{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Sandra C. |title=A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Codependency |journal=Social Work |date=November 1994 |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=677–685 |doi=10.1093/sw/39.6.677|pmid=7992137 }}</ref> It has not been included as a condition in any edition of the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM]] or [[International Classification of Diseases|ICD]].

The concept of ''codependency'' carries three different levels of meaning:{{sfn|Cermak|1986a|pp=2–4}}
* An instructive tool that, once explained to families, helps them normalize the feelings that they are experiencing and allows them to shift their focus from the dependent person to their own [[Abnormality (behavior)|dysfunctional behavior]] patterns.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Goldberg |editor1-first=Arnold I. |title=New therapeutic visions, v.8 |date=1992 |publisher=Analytic Press |isbn=978-1-134-88774-3 |page=145}}</ref>
* A psychological concept, a shorthand means of describing and explaining human behavior.<ref name="Klostermann-052013">{{cite journal |last1=Klostermann |first1=Keith |last2=O'Farrell |first2=Timothy J. |title=Treating Substance Abuse: Partner and Family Approaches |journal=Social Work in Public Health |date=May 2013 |volume=28 |issue=3–4 |pages=234–247 |doi=10.1080/19371918.2013.759014|pmid=23731417 |s2cid=205943130 }}</ref>
* A psychological disorder, implying that there is a consistent pattern of traits or behaviors across individuals that can create significant dysfunction.<ref name="Klostermann-052013" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dear |first1=Greg E. |last2=Roberts |first2=Clare M. |last3=Lange |first3=Lois |editor1-last=Shohov |editor1-first=Serge P. |title=Advances in psychology research. Volume 34 |date=2005 |publisher=Nova Science Publishers |location=Hauppauge |isbn=9781594540790 |page=189}}</ref>

Discussion of codependency tends to approach the subject as a disorder, although there is no agreement that codependency is a disorder at all, or how such a disorder might be defined or diagnosed.<ref name="jmorgan" />{{rp|723}} Due to the lack of such agreement, there is no established definition or diagnostic criteria of "codependency" within the mental health community,<ref name="advpsych">{{cite book |last1=Dear |first1=Greg E. |last2=Roberts |first2=Clair N. |last3=Lange |first3=Lois |editor1-last=Shohov |editor1-first=S |title=Advances in psychology research. Volume 34 |date=2005 |publisher=Nova Science Publishers |location=Hauppauge |isbn=1594540799 |page=189}}</ref><ref name="sanderson">{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Sandra C. |title=A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Codependency |journal=Social Work |date=November 1994 |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=677–685 |doi=10.1093/sw/39.6.677|pmid=7992137 }}</ref> and it has not been included as a condition in any edition of the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM]] or [[International Classification of Diseases|ICD]].

The [[Medical Subject Headings|Medical Subject Heading]] utilized by the [[United States National Library of Medicine]] describes codependency as "A relational pattern in which a person attempts to derive a sense of purpose through relationships with others."<ref>{{Cite web |title=MeSH Browser |url=https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D017004 |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=meshb.nlm.nih.gov}}</ref>

In her [[self-help]] book, [[Melody Beattie]] proposed that, "The obvious definition [of codependency] would be: being a partner in dependency. This definition is close to the truth but still unclear." Beattie elaborated, "A codependent person is one who has let another person's behavior affect him or her, and who is obsessed with controlling that person's behavior."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beattie |first=Melody |url=http://archive.org/details/codependentnomor0000beat_h5i1 |title=Codependent no more : how to stop controlling others and start caring for yourself |date=1987 |publisher=Harper/Hazelden |isbn=978-0-06-255446-8 |location=New York}}</ref> Therapist and self-help author Darlene Lancer expresses that "A codependent is a person who can’t function from his or her innate self and instead organizes thinking and behavior around a substance, process, or other person(s)." Lancer includes all [[Addiction|addicts]] in her definition. She believes a "lost self" is the core of codependency.<ref name="dummies">{{Cite book |last=Lancer |first=Darlene |title=Codependency for Dummies |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1118095225 |edition=1st |location=New Jersey |page=30}}</ref>

[[Co-Dependents Anonymous]], a self-help organization for people who seek to develop healthy and functional relationships, "offer[s] no definition or diagnostic criteria for codependence,"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=What is Codependence |url=https://coda.org/newcomers/what-is-codependence/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=CoDA.org |language=en-US}}</ref> but provides a list of "patterns and characteristics of codependence" that can be used by laypeople for self-evaluation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patterns and Characteristics 2011 |url=https://coda.org/meeting-materials/patterns-and-characteristics-2011/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=Codependents Anonymous |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="patterns">{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Recovery Patterns of Codependence |url=https://coda.org/meeting-materials/patterns-of-recovery/ |access-date=22 July 2022 |website=Codependents Anonymous}}</ref> 
The community health organization, Mental Health America characterizes it as a form of "relationship addiction" in the sense that affected people have low-self esteem and high neediness, seeking fulfillment from external factors such as being needed by someone else, a situation that turns codependent when that someone is a [[dysfunctional family]] member.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Co-Dependency |url=https://www.mhanational.org/co-dependency |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=Mental Health America |language=en}}</ref>