Have you become so absorbed in other people"s problems that you don"t have time to identify, or solve, your own? Do you care so deeply about other people that you"ve forgotten how to care for yourself? Do you need to control events and people around you because you feel everything around and inside of you is out of control? Do you feel responsible for so much because the people around you feel responsible for so little? By its nature, alcoholism and other compulsive disorders create victims out of everyone close to the afflicted person. Whether the person you love is an alcoholic, a gambler, a foodaholic, a workaholic, a sexaholic, a criminal, a rebellious teenager or a neurotic parent, this book is for you - the codependent. This inspiring new overview of codependency by Melody Beattie, a recovering alcoholic and former chemical dependency counselor, details its characteristics, where the behavior comes from and how it affects us and those around us. Offering hope and guidance this book discusses several options to controlling behavior and helps us understand that letting go will set us free.