WE NEED NEW IDEAS –
July 8, 2022 – As cocaine addiction rose in the 1980s, the concept of codependence offered a path to support and treatment. By the mid-1990s, treating it was an established part of therapy and residential facilities sprang up that specialized in it. A new 12-step group, Codependents Anonymous, formed in 1986.
Soon, codependence became a household word, with publications musing on whether America was codependently enabling President Bill Clinton’s sex addiction. Its ideology about using tough love to fight addiction settled into conventional wisdom.
