When you imagine a happy sexual relationship, you probably picture a couple

When you imagine a happy sexual relationship, you probably picture a couple cuddling on the couch, taking walks in the park, or even celebrating a major milestone. Spending time together is a very important part of a sexual relationship: building trust, making memories, and building a life together. But this whole sexual relationship-building process can get out of hand. Your sexual relationship should be something that makes your life better, not something that consumes your life and starts to define who you are as a person. When a sexual relationship becomes codependent, it has gone too far. When you spend a lot of time together and suddenly find yourself dependent on each other, it can be a fine line. The line between a healthy, intimate sexual relationship and an unhealthy one isn’t always as clear-cut as we’d like it to be So how can you tell if your sexual relationship is codependent?

One of the great things about a strong, healthy sexual relationship is that it becomes the foundation for the rest of your life. You have this solid foundation that gives you more confidence when you go out and do things as an independent person outside of a sexual relationship. However, if you feel incredibly comfortable and happy when you’re with your partner but not when you’re alone, that might be a problem.
Sometimes the problem is very clear: you feel anxious, worried, and even uncomfortable when your partner is not around.  But sometimes codependency is more subtle. Without it, you may not feel 100% confident or know what to say or how to interact with people. If your self-esteem is too dependent on sexual relationships, you need to take a step back and try to regain some independence.