pathologizing of love: A sociological analysis of codependency

A theory is developed to account for the emergence of the phenomenon of codependency. Codependency is targeted primarily at women since inequality constrains women from self-development outside relationships. It is argued that women experience relative deprivation and seek a socially acceptable way to avoid self-blame. Codependency's emergence in the late 1980s can be partly attributed to efforts of the recovery movement to secure legitimacy as agents of social control. The theory is tested by examining the emergence of the nineteenth-century illness called neurasthenia. It is argued that both codependency and neurasthenia are metaphors for female discontent. The particular expressions taken by discontent are largely determined by agents of social control.