Abstract
The concept of codependency has historically portrayed individuals engaged in a perpetual struggle of lifelong dysfunction, addiction, and neurotic dependency.1 Professionals in the substance abuse and mental health fields have estimated that a range of 83%-96% of the population is codependent.2-5 Publishers have noted an 85% female readership of the codependency literature, thus indicating that at the very least, codependency is a topic of interest for women.1 The rapid popularization of codependency in the United States however, warrants close examination. Gomberg6 posited that the term codependency has been expanded without any consideration of its meaningfulness or its contribution to theory and practice so that it encompasses virtually the entire population of the United States. Stanton and Heath7 cautioned that the use of the term codependency has been applied disproportionately and pejoratively to women in our society. Codependency has been critically addressed in the literature by a number of writers. 1,2,6,8-11 The consistent premise of these writings has been that the term codependency can have a negative impact on views of female behavior. Wilson12 noted that nursing, as a predominantly female profession, must examine carefully any theory or psychiatric label that defines women negatively. Despite this, several articles in the nursing literature have supported the concept of codependence, even to the extent of implying that code-pendent behaviors are particularly problematic for nursing professionals.13-19