| Symptoms of Co-dependency:
- Inability to know what "normal"
is.
- Difficulty in following a project
through.
- Difficulty having fun.
- Judging self, others without
mercy.
- Low self esteem, often projected
onto others. (eg: Why don't they get their act together!)
- Difficulty in developing or sustaining
meaningful relationships.
- Belief that others cause or are
responsible for the codependent's emotions.
(Codependents often use language like "you make me feel ______",
or "I was made to feel like____")
- Overreacting to change. (or intense
fear of / inability to deal with change.)
- Inability to see alternatives
to situations, thus responding very impulsively.
- Constantly seeking approval and
affirmation, yet having compromised sense of self.
- Feelings of being different.
- Confusion and sense of inadequacy.
- Being either super responsible
or super irresponsible. (Or alternating between these.)
- Lack of self confidence in making
decisions, no sense of power in making choices.
- Feeling of fear, insecurity,
inadequacy, guilt, hurt, and shame which are denied.
- Isolation and fear of people,
resentment of authority figures.
- Fear of anger or bottling anger
up till it explodes.
- Hypersensitivity to criticism.
- Being addicted to excitement
/ drama. (Chaos making.)
- Dependency upon others and fear
of abandonment.
- Avoidance of relationships to
guard against abandonment fears.
- Confusion between love and pity.
- Tendency to look for "victims"
to help.
- Rigidity and need to control.
- Lies, when it would be just as
easy to tell the truth.
Are you codependent?
- Do you feel responsible for other
people--their feelings, thoughts, actions, choices, wants, needs,
well-being and destiny?
- Do you feel compelled to help
people solve their problems or take care of their feelings?
- Do you find it easier to feel
and express anger about injustices done to others than about injustices
done to you?
- Do you feel safest and most comfortable
when you are giving to others?
- Do you feel insecure and guilty
when someone gives to you?
- Do you feel empty, bored and
worthless if you don't have someone else to take care of, a problem
to solve, or a crisis to deal with?
- Are you often unable to stop
talking, thinking and worrying about other people and their problems?
- Do you lose interest in your
own life when you are in love?
- Do you stay in relationships
that don't work and tolerate abuse in order to keep people loving
you?
- Do you leave bad relationships
only to form new ones that don't work either?
Characteristics of Co-dependent People:
- Controlling behavior
- Distrust
- Perfectionism
- Avoidance of feelings
- Intimacy problems
- Caretaking behavior
- Hypervigilance (a heightened awareness for potential
threat/danger)
- Physical illness related to stress
- Exaggerated sense of responsibility for the actions of others
- Tendency to confuse love and pity, with the tendency to “love”
people they can pity and rescue
- Tendency to do more than their share, all of the time
- Tendency to become hurt when people don’t recognize their efforts
- Unhealthy dependence on relationships, will do anything to hold
on to a relationship, to avoid the feeling of abandonment
- Extreme need for approval and recognition
- Sense of guilt when asserting themselves
- Compelling need to control others
- Lack of trust in self and/or others
- Fear of being abandoned or alone
- Difficulty identifying feelings
- Rigidity/difficulty adjusting to change
- Problems with intimacy/boundaries
- Chronic anger
- Lying/dishonesty
- Poor communications
- Difficulty making decisions
Questionnaire To Identify Signs Of Codependency
This condition appears to run in different degrees, whereby the
intensity of symptoms are on a spectrum of severity, as opposed
to an all or nothing scale. Please note that only a qualified professional
can make a diagnosis of codependency; not everyone experiencing
these symptoms suffers from codependency.
1. Do you keep quiet to avoid arguments?
2. Are you always worried about others’ opinions of you?
3. Have you ever lived with someone with an alcohol or drug problem?
4. Have you ever lived with someone who hits or belittles you?
5. Are the opinions of others more important than your own?
6. Do you have difficulty adjusting to changes at work or home?
7. Do you feel rejected when significant others spend time with
friends?
8. Do you doubt your ability to be who you want to be?
9. Are you uncomfortable expressing your true feelings to others?
10. Have you ever felt inadequate?
11. Do you feel like a “bad person” when you make a mistake?
12. Do you have difficulty taking compliments or gifts?
13. Do you feel humiliation when your child or spouse makes a mistake?
14. Do you think people in your life would go downhill without your
constant efforts?
15. Do you frequently wish someone could help you get things done?
16. Do you have difficulty talking to people in authority, such
as the police or your boss?
17. Are you confused about who you are or where you are going with
your life?
18. Do you have trouble saying “no” when asked for help?
19. Do you have trouble asking for help?
20. Do you have so many things going at once that you can’t do justice
to any of them?
If you identify with several of these symptoms; are dissatisfied
with yourself or your relationships; you should consider seeking
professional help. Arrange for a diagnostic evaluation with a licensed
physician or psychologist experienced in treating co-dependency.
Homoeopathy can play a very important role in treating
codependency.
Natrum mur: Responsibility, bitterness,
resentment, broods, weeps alone
Hateful to persons who had offended him. Detests consolation or
fuss. Sad; during menses; without cause. Reserved. Easily angered
worse if consoled. Company distresses. Hypochondriac. Weeps bitterly;
or wants to be alone to cry. Weeps involuntarily, without cause
or can not weep. Cheerful, laughs, sings, dances, alternating with
sadness. Boisterous grief. Dwells on past unpleasant memories. Anxiety.
Apprehension. Awkward; in talking; hasty; drops things from nervous
weakness. Absent minded. Scattered thoughts. Revengeful. Thinks
she is pitied for her misfortunes and weeps. Immoderate laughter
with tears. Abrupt. An idea clings, preventing sleep, inspires revenge.
Alternating mental conditions. Extremely forgetful. Aversion, of
men (females).
Cocculus: Caring, anxiety, mildness, sympathetic,
loss of sleep (looking after husband), not complaining, recognizes
and accepts reality (Sehgal)
Dazed. Profound sadness. Thoughts fixed on one unpleasant subject,
sits as if absorbed in deep and sad thoughts and observes nothing
about her. Sudden great anxiety. Things seem unreal. Slow grasp.
Easily offended, cannot bear contradiction. Extremely sad, taciturn
and peevish. Takes everything in bad part. Time passes too quickly.
Drunkards; reeling, roaring, quarrelsome, singing. Very anxious
about health of others. Talkative, witty, joking, dancing, gesticulating.
Sees something alive on walls, floor, chair etc. Vaccillatory, does
not accomplish anything at her work. Fears death and unknown dangers.
Ammonium Sulph: Resentment about partner, Rancour,
anger (Jan Scolten)
Concepts of Ammonium Sulphuricum according to
Jan Scolten
Resentment, grudge Clothing
Anger, hate criticism, Beauty, grace, harmony
Closed, reserved Joy
Idealism Love and relationships
Disappointed, gloomy Jealousy
The group analysis gives us the theme of resentment towards
the partner.
They feel that their partner doesn't give them enough love. They
see him or her as a cold, reserved and hard person. So they themselves
start to behave in a similar way, trying to hide their own vulnerability
and need for love.
Another possible situation is that they are resentful because they
don't have a relationship. They feel that they are not receiving
any love and when they do finally meet a partner they have such
high expectations that it is impossible to fulfil them. So they
are disappointed in their ideals and they take this out on their
partner. They become irritable and resentful and their partner usually
escapes after a very short time. This Am-s behaviour pushes away
all potential partners and they end up alone.
Another variation might be that they really do have a partner who
is cold and reserved. In this case they have chosen such a partner
in order not to have to show their need for love. This often follows
the example they had from their parents, who often had the same
sort of marriage, with little love and a lot of bitterness and disappointment.
They feel that it is impossible to have a loving relationship, so
they avoid it altogether by choosing an unloving partner.
(Ref: Jan Scholten- Minerals and Homoeopathy)
Rhus Tox: Anxiety about children, suspicious,
suicidal, wife of an alcoholic (Sankaran)
Anxious, sadness; helplessness and profound despondency. Inclination
to weep worse in evening; without knowing why; with desire for solitude.
Fear of being poisoned. Satiety of life; thoughts of suicide, wants
to drown himself. Forgetful cannot remember the most recent events.
Fear worse at night, cannot lie in bed. Confusion. Anxiety, respecting
one's children.
Sepia: Overworked, overtired female, too
many expectations from household, resentment against the husband,
over demanding husband, aversion to sexual contact, anger aggravated
by contradiction, beats children, frustrated
Angry, sensitive; irritable; easily offended, and miserable. Wants
to commit suicide. Nervous, so that she wants to hold on to something
or she should scream. She says and does strange things. Nobody knows
what she will do next. Anxious fear; over trifles. Aversion; to
family, to those loved best, to sympathy, to company; yet dreads
to be alone. Repugnance to customary business; disgust of life.
Stifled affections. Poor Memory. Makes mistakes while writing or
reading. Sad. Irritability, alternating with indifference or sulkiness.
Sad over her health and domestic affairs. Constantly worries, frets
and cries about her real or imaginary illness. Sexually minded.
Weeps when telling her symptoms. Miserly. *Stupid, wants to go away.
Indifference. Takes pleasure in teasing others. Feels unfortunate
without cause. Sits quietly and answers either with yes or no. Women
hate men and men hate women. Breaks down in spells of weeping.
Ignatia: Disappointment in love, grief,
suffers in silence, undemonstrated grief, sadness, grief, hysteria,
duty conscious
ALERT;OVERSENSITIVE AND NERVOUS. Highly emotional Moody. Brooding
GRIEF. Silent and sad. SIGHS, weeps or laughs by turns, laughs when
she ought to be serious. Changeable moods. Unhappy love. Inward
weeping; enjoys being sad. Angry with himself. Desire to be alone.
Everything irks her. Intolerant of contradiction; of reprimands.
Anguish; shrieks for help. Capricious. Delicately conscientious.
Fear; of thieves; of trifles, of things coming near him. Introspective.
Faints easily, girls who faint every time they go to church; or
who fall in love with married men. Sensation as if she had been
fasting for a long time. Hurried during menses; no one can do things
fast enough for her. Looks about the bed as if to find something.
Delights to bring on her fits and produce a scare or a scene. Thinks
she has neglected her duty. Sighing and sobbing. Not communicative.
Fear of robbers at night.
Naja: Duty conscious, noble, anger
Pulsatilla- Mildness, Timid, Indecisive,
weeping
MILD, TIMID, EMOTIONAL, AND TEARFUL. Disgusted at everything. Discouraged.
Easily offended. Whining. Craves sympathy. Children like fuss and
caresses. Morbid dread of the opposite sex; marriage; thinks that
sexual intercourse is a sinful act. Given to extremes of pleasure
and pain. Easily moved to tears and laughter; after eating. Religious
melancholy. Fear; to be alone, of dark, of ghosts in the evening;
therefore wants to hide or run. Capricious. Miserly. Suspicious.
Very irritable, touchy; feels slighted or fears slight. Answers,
yes or no, by nodding her head. Imagines that certain articles of
food are not good for the human race. Sad from disagreeable news.
Mania from suppressed menses.
Magnesium carb: Smiles even in the face of grief,
neglected, forsaken feeling, theme of repression (Sankaran)
Lac can: Feeling of worthlessness, dirty
feeling, Low self-esteem, seeks approval in others
Full of imaginations; horrid; of snakes; vermin. Very forgetful;
makes mistakes in writing and speaking. Every symptom seems a settled
disease; which is incurable. Fear of disease; of falling downstairs.
Child cross and irritable, screams all the time especially at night.
Despondent. Attacks of rage. Hysteria at the height of sexual orgasm.
Feels as if walking on air or of not touching the bed when lying
down. Thinks himself of little consequence. Absent minded. Imagines
that he wears someone else's nose. Thinks that whatever she says
is a lie. Fits; of weeping. One's body seems disgusting. Strong
tendency to reproach oneself, which is coupled with lack of self
confidence. They feel very low of themselves. They feel they are
worthless.
Opium: The main feeling of Opium is Numbness.
These people are in Denial. They are not ready to agree that they
have a problem. Therefore the rubric “well says when he is not”.they
cover up the facts and show a false façade that everything is OK.
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