A Toxic Coupling: Codependence & Drug Addiction

Codependency can be a serious, toxic and even deadly dynamic in relationships when and where drug/alcohol addiction is involved. So, for my money, any revealing light that can be shed on the power of codependent attitudes to damage or destroy relationships and healthy family dynamics is a good thing.

“Intervention Codependent” is a new show produced by the Lifetime Movie Network that recently premiered on the A&E Network. Series interventionist Kristina Wandzilak is credited with helping thousands of addicts and their families by identifying and preventing enabling and codependent behaviors. She states in the show’s opening that “Behind every addict is an equally great codependent”.

Kristina Wandzilak of "Intervention Codependent"

Source: LMN.com

In each episode, respected interventionist Wandzilak profiles couples caught in a codependent, drug-fueled downward spiral. Working with each of the couple’s families, an offer of treatment is extended to the couple in much the same way as the original “Intervention”. The twist here is that if they want treatment, they are required to go into treatment separately, at different facilities. This caveat can prove to be the couple’s undoing or their saving grace as they strive to break both the behaviors of addiction and patterns of codependence.

In my private practice, I found codependency to be a fickle, voracious, multi-headed monster with many faces. I am glad that this series is at least striving to unmask old and new codependent behaviors that plague so many dealing with the horror of addiction.

Codependency, which oftentimes manifests as an addiction to people, is as serious an addiction as any. It is my hope for this series that the “witnessing” of the self-defeating behaviors of these couples and their families will produce great moments of clarity in others.