A Disease of One's Own: Psychotherapy, Addiction and the Emergence of Co-dependency

In the present decade "co-dependency" has sprung up on the landscape of American popular culture. Portrayed as an addiction-like disease responsible for a wide range of personal & social problems, co-dependency has spawned a veritable social movement nationwide. A Disease of One's Own examines the phenomenon from a sociological perspective, viewing it not as something a person "has," but as something a person believes; not as a psychological disease, but as a belief system that offers its adherents a particular way of talking about the self & social relationships. This brilliant analysis provides people with a means of making sense of the problems of relationship & identity that have accompanied what the author terms the "psychologization" of American life.