THE HISTORY OF CODEPENDENCY

This chapter aims to ruffle a few feathers, go against the grain, and challenge an almost religious-like adherence to antiquated and disproven information on codependency. These pages, if not the whole book, are guided by an unwavering mandate to archeologically dig and sift through every sedimentary layer of the codependency environment to locate, isolate, gather, piece together, and most importantly, identify why the “codependency dinosaur” could not resist falling prey to the evolutionary process of extinction.

Since the pseudo-science of codependency is long past its shelf life, now is the right time to illuminate what was invisible, uncover what was once blanketed by darkness, and accurately explain what people could not or would not want to comprehend. Challenging established and widely accepted scientific medical and mental health conclusions takes an outside-the-box and pioneering spirit.

Debunking medical and mental health treatment claims that were never supported by some level of objective scrutiny can be a tough road to travel. For the mental health profession to accept what it does not know but should know will require it to be collectively vulnerable, self-reflective, honest, and courageous. The journey will be as important as the destination!

I will never forget when I read my first astronomy book at age forty-two—no previous moment in my life stimulated so much curiosity, awe, and subsequent thirst for more information! Until then, I had no idea what pointing a powerful and focused telescope at the heavens could allow a person to discover. Clear and crisp images of our solar system, the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, star clusters, nebulae, comets, and many more exciting photos and explanations populated my mind and set my curiosity on fire! They alerted me to what I could never have imagined and what my mind needed to understand.’

‘…Like opening the first few pages of my beloved astronomy books, this codependency dance discovery led to another life-changing experience of intense excitement, joy, and wonder. After all, it seemed like a miracle that I stumbled onto a simple explanation for codependent’s lifelong suffering. Like our astronomy forefathers, I turned my “tiny telescope” toward the vast and unknown universe of codependency, where I would begin to see and then chart a vast “constellation” of information for which the world of codependents desperately had waited a very long time. Carl Sagan’s quote captures the magic and subsequent joy I experienced at this one-in-a-lifetime discovery:

“At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes—an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense (Sagan, 1997).”[i]

As a direct result of the blind eye the mental health community turned toward the crumbling infrastructure of the codependency field, I was inspired to provide long due and eagerly anticipated information for which the world’s suffering codependents have patiently waited. Although replacing established and accepted beliefs may be a tough road to travel; there has never been another choice for me. So, to better understand codependency, let’s travel back in time.

[i] Ibid.