Characteristics of Co-Dependence Among Wives of Persons with Substance Use Disorder in Iran

Abstract

Substance use disorder is known to adversely affect both the user as well as his or her family members. A consequence of chemical dependence on family members is co-dependence. Codependence is associated with an excessive focus on the needs and behaviors of the person with substance use disorder. Most studies in the field of drug-related problems in Iran have focused on the substance user, while few studies have been carried out on the family members. A qualitative case study approach was employed to explore characteristics of codependence among wives of persons with substance use disorder in Iran where substance use disorder is a notable social harm. Purposive snowball sampling technique was used to identify 11 Iranian wives of individuals with substance use disorder. The data were collected through in-depth, face-to-face interviews, non-participation observation, and document analysis. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The analysis yielded five main characteristics of co-dependence among wives of persons with substance use disorder, namely: Denial, enabling behavior, low self-worth, enmeshed self, and weak spiritual relationship with God. The findings showed that except for a weak spiritual relationship with God, most of the characteristics of co-dependence among the participants were similar to the traits of co-dependents found in previous studies conducted outside Iran.

Playing the Second Fiddle - The Experiences, Challenges and Coping Strategies of Concerned Significant Others of Partners With a Substance Use Disorder: Informing Social Work Interventions

“…Considering the experiences the CSOs encountered in relation to a partner's SUD, they also reported employing a number of coping strategies in order to manage and mitigate the impact of a partner's SUD-related behaviour. These attempts at coping are often referred to as "enabling" or "codependency," as pointed out by a number of authors (Adedoyin, Beacham & Jackson, 2014;Askian, Krauss, Baba, Kadir & Sharghi, 2016), while other authors are of the opinion that they should be considered "normal" reactions by especially the CSOs who are, in reality, "normal" persons who become more demoralised by the increasing SUD-related behaviours of their partners (Orford, 2014). Some of the CSO participants indicated how they tried to cope by concealing a partner's SUD in maintaining a façade of normality, pretending that all is well domestically, in an attempt to keep the family together and by taking over responsibilities which the partner with an SUD increasingly neglected (Askian et al, 2016), as well as lying and making excuses.…”

The Lived Experience of Codependency: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

“…The concept of codependency emerged in the 1940s in the context of treatment for substance misuse in the USA. Its resilience has been demonstrated by the amount of academic papers and exploratory research published across the world, for example: in Italy (Lampis et al 2017), in Iran (Askian et al 2016), India (Bhowmick et al 2001;Sarkar et al 2015;Kaur 2016), Taiwan (Chang 2012(Chang , 2018, Australia (Marks et al 2012), Brazil (Bortolon et al 2016), Turkey (Ançel and Kabakçi 2009;Ulusoy and Guçray 2017), Korea (Kwon 2001), and Sweden (Zetterlind and Berglund 1999).…”

“…For example, across decades, researchers have attempted to identify the main psychological factors associated with codependency without clear agreement (O'Brien and Gaborit 1992;Carson and Baker 1994;Irvin 1995;Hughes-Hammer et al 1998;Wells et al 2006;Hoeningmann-Lion and Whithead 2007;Marks et al 2012;Lampis et al 2017). There has been an attempt to provide evidence for codependency in families with substance misuse problems (Prest and Storm 1988;Bhowmick et al 2001;Sarkar et al 2015;Bortolon et al 2016;Askian et al 2016). The results of these studies highlight that the evidence is still inconclusive.…”

Family resilience and chemical dependency: perception of mental health professionals

“…National and international studies about families that experience substance-related problems usually focus on the negative and deficient aspects of the family life, such as fragility, family dysfunction, and characteristics of codependency (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) . Therefore, the family is recognized as a risk factor and scenario in view of drug complexity, which requires a targeted approach from health professionals to compensate for family limitations and deficits.…”