10 signs you might be codependent

• One-sided relationships, in which you make many sacrifices for your partner's happiness and their needs, often at the expense of your own needs or happiness, are often considered to be codependent.
• Codependency in a relationship isn't considered a feature of a healthy, secure relationship.
• Knowing whether or not you might be codependent is important because being aware of what's going on is the first step in addressing your patterns.
• If you need help breaking some of these patterns, a therapist may be able to provide that help.

Codependency isn't generally considered to be a healthy relationship dynamic, but the lines between being a caring, thoughtful partner working to make their relationship work and truly being codependent can sometimes be sort of difficult to parse. Since knowing that you're codependent (or in some sort of codependent relationship) can be one of the first things in changing your ways, it's important to recognize what those signs might be.

From looking to have someone else make your decisions for you to letting people walk all over you or putting someone else above yourself, the signs that you're codependent can range from subtle to more obvious.

You're not able to establish boundaries.

Establishing boundaries in relationships is important. But if you don't feel the need to establish any or find yourself unable to do so, that could potentially indicate that you might be codependent. "People who are codependent tend to get too close, too fast, and overshare," therapist Erin Parisi, LMHC, MCAP, told INSIDER.

"A codependent person may be 'all in' in a relationship very early on, making major commitments like moving in without spending enough time getting to know their partner."

You feel like you need to control your partner.

Relationships shouldn't be about controlling other people, so if that's a characteristic of yours, there might be something a bit off about the dynamic. Parisi said that if you have "intense reactions when other people don't do what you think they should do," that is one indicator that you might be codependent. Additionally, as Weena Cullins, LCMFT, a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist, told INSIDER, "It's also a red flag to over-function in another person's life when our motivation is to be wanted and accepted in return."

If you're doing things for your partner because you think that otherwise, they won't do what you want them to do or act in a way that you want them to act, that's another potential sign that you might be codependent.

You take on other people's problems.

It's normal and natural to want to help out when someone you care about is having a problem, but if you have a tendency to take on their problems like they're yours and not theirs, that could be a sign that you're codependent.

"While some of these behaviors are normal to exhibit when we care about another person, they become problematic when we cross over into an unhealthy space of doing "too much" and not being able to stop," Cullins explained.