Psychology has long dealt with emotional difficulties such as jealousy and emotional dependence, the latter has a number of specific characteristics, and today we will focus on emotional dependence in adolescence.
Knowing that human interactions are always complex, the society in which we live, new forms of communication and certain personality variables can predispose some people to develop emotional dependence, in fact, if we have to face this difficulty at some stage of life, this stage is certainly adolescence.
- Emotional dependence in adolescence can cause a lot of discomfort to both those who suffer from it and those around it.
- We will talk more about this phenomenon in more detail below.
If there is a predominant word at this stage of life is change, both biologically and socially, in adolescence there are a number of changes, many of which have an impact on children’s emotions, thoughts and behaviors. In fact, we do not exaggerate when we say that much of the personality structure develops at this stage.
But what matters at this stage is not the changes, but the way these changes occur, many of them, whether physical, social, emotional, sexual?they arrive very fast, so fast that, in many situations, young people do not have the resources or maturity to cope.
If we focus on emotional changes, we must keep in mind that they occur in their context, that is, adolescence is a social concept, because social influences have a big influence on the way children live this stage.
Emotionally, adolescents often have to be under some pressure, for example, it is common that the search for acceptance as a means of adapting to the environment makes them act in the way that best corresponds to the group to which they want to belong. In relationships, there can also be all kinds of pressures, which can cause a lot of discomfort.
Relationships involve a new way to connect emotionally and not everyone has the level of self-knowledge or social skills to know how to set boundaries or communicate in the most appropriate way.
While this article deals with emotional dependence on romantic relationships, there are other emotional addictions, such as maternal or paternal bonds or friendly relationships. When focusing on the partner, there are many definitions of emotional dependence, but they all have in common the following characteristics:
In addition, it is also necessary to refer to mutual emotional dependence or emotional codependence, which occurs bidirectionally, by both members of the couple, and accentuates the traits that define this dependence.
When a teen has an emotional addiction within the couple, he should not be forced to end the relationship as an imposition, it is much more useful to be available to speak and, above all, to listen.
Support and empathy are fundamental to dealing with emotional addiction, although this situation is clearly seen from the outside, those who live it do not perceive it in the same way and we must respect everyone’s time.