How often have you thought that you were really in love or just being emotionally dependent? Whenever you think of being in a relationship with someone you might think about the love for the other person and how much you depend on them in your life. Actually, people often misunderstand between being in love and being emotionally dependent. Emotional dependency is when a person allows other people, such as their significant other, to impact his/her emotions and feelings, and depends on him/her for happiness, etc. So, how to recognize if you are emotionally depended or not? Check out 6 signs of being emotionally dependent from Wikiyeah.com here!
6 Big Signs Of Being Emotionally Dependent
1. You Do Not Spend Time Hanging With Your Family Or Friends
Being in a romantic relationship with someone does not mean that you have to absolutely forget about your family or friends. Codependence happens when your own happiness solely comes from an individual that you have a relationship with. It is a not a sign of a healthy relationship. One or both partners depend on their partner for fulfillment. In order to have a healthy and stable relationship with your significant other, both of you need to spend time for yourself, your family, or your friends, not just with each other. This way, you are nurturing yourself and your relationship, too.
2. You Do Not Feel Good About Yourself
When it comes to signs of being emotionally dependent, this is the most overlooked sign. When a person is in a codependent relationship and relying strongly on their partner in order to fulfill their happiness, they often do not feel good about themselves. For those people in healthy relationships, there are many outlets making them happy, such as their family, job, or hobbies. Yet, once your relationship does not get involved with self-respect, it will enable bad behaviors from your significant other, thereby influencing you to not satisfy about yourself.
When you do not feel good about yourself, it means you do not love yourself. If you do not love yourself – your wonderful, beautiful essence, you could not see or love the essence in another person, including your partner. When you do not see or value properly yourself, you will become emotionally dependent to get the love your want. Thus, the key to falling in love as well as staying in love is to love yourself. When you love yourself, you will not be vulnerable to someone who comes on strong with their approval and attention. When you give yourself the approval and attention you need, it is easier to discern when a certain person is trying to score with you or when they really care about the person you are. [Read: 10 undeniable signs of a one-sided relationship]
3. You Are Too Clingy
If you always want to know where your boyfriend is or if you always want to check up on your partner, then it is among subtle signs of being emotionally dependent. You do not own your partner, so give them space and do not depend on him/her all the time.
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4. You No Longer Do Anything Alone
Do you feel afraid of doing something alone after being in a relationship with your significant other? If yes, then you may be codependent. This is an clear sign of being emotionally dependent in a relationship. Whilst it is totally nature to want to spend time with your loved one, feeling anxious or stressed out as they are not around you is not a good sign. You had better acknowledge that you do not need your partner every time in order to be happy.
5. Your Only Source Of Happiness Is Your Relationship
Whilst the person you date should make you pleased and happy, they should not be the single source of your joy in life. Those people who are in a codependent relationship often have the moods which mirror their loved one. It is explained that a codependent individual is the person who lets the behavior of another person impact him/her. Do not try to take control of your partner in order to make them do the things making you happy. Instead, be with the one who can make you happy for the person they are, not the person you wish they could be.
MORE: 7 big signs of lust, not love
6. You Feel Anxious When In The Relationship
This is one of the most subtle signs of being emotionally dependent. Many codependent partners feel anxious as they could not control their loved one. No relationship is perfect, but you should still never feel stressed all the time due to your partner. Those codependent person in the relationship often spend a lot of energy as well as time on trying to change their significant other or try to conform the wishes of their partner. To deal with this situation, sometimes, the best way is to let go of what you could not control – even it means there will be a breakup. To make good decision, step back to view the whole of your relationship from the point of view of an outsider. This will help you examine the source of your stress and what you could do to handle it.