Codependency – Part I: Losing Ourselves in Others

There comes a moment in every intimate relationship when we pause, look at ourselves, and wonder: Where did I go?
It is a quiet question, an ache under the ribs, often felt long before it is spoken. It arises when we realize that our hearts have been shaped, stretched, or even distorted by a profound and often invisible dependency on another person. In recent years, psychology has given this phenomenon a name that sounds clinical, yet carries an unmistakable emotional weight: codependency.