codependence
(redirected from Codependant)codependence
[ko″de-pen´dens]a relationship in which the individual fears intimacy and establishes patterns of relating to another that are other-directed and entrapping. Codependent people tend to be highly organized, competent, energetic, strongly moral overachievers; they are devoted caretakers but are out of touch with their own needs and feelings.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.