Co-dependency Questionnaire

The concept of dependency and co-dependency is no longer limited to alcohol; it takes in the rest of the chemical spectrum – coke, pot, tobacco, heroin, and beyond. The “beyond” includes nearly any obsessive compulsion, a thing, or a behavior carried to excess. Eating disorders (for example, anorexia or bulimia), sex addiction, rageaholism, workaholism, the compulsion to spend and spend, an extremely rigid and legalistic approach to living, the compulsion to wash one’s hands fifty-five times a day – these and other addictions have been placed in the same class as alcoholism. These disorders and others affect the family and dose associates – the co-dependents – who may suffer as severely as the dependent or more so.
The concept of co-dependency embraces the alcoholic also. The word co-dependent literally means “dependent with.” People sometimes think of the spouse of the alcoholic as being the only co-dependent. Not so. The alcoholic himself or herself is actively co-dependent. His or her dependency is with a thing-alcohol. The spouse is dependent upon a person, the alcoholic, and upon the nature of the relationship as the spouse helps and enables the alcoholic. The two are equally dependent upon each other – co-dependent.