The 3 types of emotional dependence: what are they?

emotional dependency It usually manifests itself in one's relationships with others and is usually related to a partner, family or certain friends. In this sense, we can talk about types or classes of emotional dependence.

It is a complex psychological state, in which the person who suffers from it feels unable to break the ties that bind him to that relationship. unstable, destructive, unbalanced and where the other person is idealized, very negatively affecting their self-esteem, physical health and also mental.

Emotional dependency: just like an addiction

As with addictions, emotional dependence also produces withdrawal syndrome and this is mainly motivated by the fear of loneliness or the panic that the relationship will break up. In addition, emotional dependence also influences the development of obsessive thoughts and states of anxiety or depression, which occasionally disappear if the relationship or contact resumes.

In general, there are certain characteristics that can be associated with people who are emotionally dependent on others, such as:

lack of self esteem, negative moods, fear of being alone, philophobia, putting the relationship before anything else, need for constant attention from the other person, facility to isolate himself from everything around him in favor of the relationship, the need to always please the other person, self-annulment, feeling inferior to the other and even a lack of communication skills, since that their conversations always revolve around the person they are emotionally dependent on.

The cause could be fear of rejection

In addition, emotional dependency also has a social stigma since there are many labels that are imposed in this area and that can affect the behavior of people, who far from feeling free have the need to please others with their actions. rest.

Otherwise, and often wrongly, we internally accept labels -such as selfishness- that come determined by the thoughts, feelings or expressions of another person and that in reality, we should not always take into account bill.

The types of emotional dependence and their areas

The fear of rejection, of not being loved, valued and even admired by other people, also reinforces that "social need" to be emotionally dependent and that feeling, in most cases is extrapolated to other important aspects of life such as the couple, the family or friendships.

In what areas is emotional dependence most frequently manifested? we could talk about 3 main areas in which emotional dependence can manifest itself in a person and are: the couple, the family and the social environment; They are known as types of emotional dependency.

1. in the couple

The emotional dependence of the partner, it is the form that occurs most frequently in our society and is also the most recognized. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, the symptoms are quite similar to those that an addicted person may suffer, leading to withdrawal symptoms in many cases.

People who are emotionally dependent on their partner have a totally wrong concept of what a relationship should mean since they forget of their own identity, are often jealous, have an extreme desire to be with that person all the time, cannot or do not want to do other activities that do not involve your partner and make her the obsessive center of her well-being, in addition to trying to obsessively control every act or thought of the partner. other.

2. In the family

On the other hand, we will talk about emotional dependence on the family when a person shows an excessive and obsessive attachment to certain members of their family nucleus.

For example: the need to talk to that person every day, to know about her and control her day-to-day, to need her criteria to feel safe emotionally, of not being able to make decisions without the approval of that person, of giving up other projects due to the fact of having to separate and the lack of time for oneself, are aspects that characterize a person who has emotional dependence on one or more members of his core family.

• Recommended article: "Toxic Families: 4 Ways They Cause Mental Disorders"

3. in the social environment

Emotional dependence on the social environment is manifested in people who need to be recognized by others in order to feel equal to them, to be accepted in their work environment, to submit to the approval of their closest circle of friends and spending time worrying excessively about the needs or problems of others, forgetting if same.

It is also important in this sense to mention emotional codependency relationships. This type of emotional dependency implies the link between two or more people, it implies a dependency that occurs simultaneously between them and there are different areas in which it can be developed, such as those mentioned above - couple, family or society - and others such as work or educational.