DESPITE years of depression and thoughts of suicide it wasn’t until Angeline Shoveller was diagnosed as having codependency that her life took a turn for the better.
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Ms Shoveller’s successful treatment for codependence and depression prompted her to start her own local branch of Codependence Anonymous which will hold its inaugural weekly meeting at the Orange Community Centre on March 4.
According to Ms Shoveller, the key symptoms of codependency include having difficulty in experiencing appropriate levels of self esteem; difficulty setting appropriate boundaries and difficulty in owning your own reality.
Based on Alcoholic Anonymous’ 12-step program, the meetings will encourage people to share their experiences in the hope of helping others.
“Codependence is a disease resulting from less than nurturing experiences (people have had) as children,” said Ms Shoveller.
“Every meeting will be different so it will be up to the group to decided what we do.
“However people will be able to see the similarities in each other’s stories.
“I think that 97 per cent of people are codependent; if you have ever thought ‘I can’t survive if he leaves me’ ... then you probably are codependent.
“This really is a deadly disease and I hope that by sharing my story and starting this group I can help other people as well as my self.
“Recovery really is all about being happy with yourself.”
