Codependency is gender neutral. It can exist in any relationship and men are as likely to be codependent as women. The only distinction that codependency has is that kids or very young people are less likely to be codependent than adults, aging or elderly people. Codependency can exist in any relationship; in that of a mother and daughter, father and son, in couples whether or not they are married, among colleagues or business associates and partners. Every relationship, as defined by us, is vulnerable to codependency.
Codependent people don’t always wonder if they are in a codependent relationship. For men or for women, it is absolutely imperative to know the signs of codependency, specific to a relationship. Here are some of the many signs of a codependent man.
1. A man in a relationship with another man or woman who is addicted to alcohol, drugs, some substance or something is likely to be codependent. The degree and nature of addiction of the other can vary. The key would be to know for certain if the man in context is indulging in taking care of the other person who is beyond the acceptable limits of addiction.
2. A codependent man will hold himself guilty of failing others or of not doing much. If anything happens to the other person in the relationship and even if the man in context doesn’t have anything to do with that adverse consequence, the man would still blame himself or hold himself responsible. This would happen at all times without exception. Although some instances may not evoke such reactions in codependency, yet those are rarities.
3. A codependent man will not be capable of saying no or turning down the requests of others. If the man is in a specific codependent relationship then that failure of turning down others would be confined to the person with whom the relationship is shared. If the man is generally codependent then he would struggle to say no to anyone and everyone, with or without cause.
4. A codependent man will try very hard to be acceptable to others, to be appreciated by others and will always want to please everyone around, especially the person on whom he is the most codependent. There is a sense of approval that the man would consistently seek and would want to conform to the norms and desires of others without paying heed to his.