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The Lived Experience of Codependency: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Bacon, Ingrid; McKay, Elizabeth; Reynolds, Frances; McIntyre, Anne

Authors

Ingrid Bacon

Frances Reynolds

Anne McIntyre



Abstract

Codependency is a complex and debatable concept, which has been used over the years by mental health professionals to inform their practices. Researchers have attempted to identify the main problems associated with codependency; however, their evidence is still inconclusive.
This is the first time that interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) has been used to explore the lived experience of codependency from the perspective of self-identified codependents. Eight participants recruited from local support groups for codependency in the UK, offered in-depth information about their subjective experiences, and embedded in their lifeworld. Data was gathered through interviews and a visual method. The shared experience
of codependency was portrayed by the participants as a complex but tangible multidimensional psychosocial problem in their lives. It incorporated three interlinked experiences: a lack of clear sense of self, an enduring pattern of extreme, emotional, relational, and occupational imbalance, and an attribution of current problems in terms of parental abandonment and control in childhood.

Citation

Bacon, I., McKay, E., Reynolds, F., & McIntyre, A. (2020). The Lived Experience of Codependency: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 18(3), 754-771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9983-8

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 2, 2018
Online Publication Date Aug 21, 2018
Publication Date 2020-06
Deposit Date Aug 28, 2018
Publicly Available Date Aug 29, 2018
Journal International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Print ISSN 1557-1874
Electronic ISSN 1557-1882
Publisher BMC
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 18
Issue 3
Pages 754-771
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9983-8
Keywords Codependency, lived experience, phenomenology, self, childhood,
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1286791
Contract Date Aug 29, 2018

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Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2018
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.









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