overdependence
Too much leaning
Overdependence is excessive reliance on someone or something, to a degree that becomes unhealthy or unsustainable.
The word implies a loss of self-sufficiency: Her overdependence on her parents prevented her from developing independence.
Nations worry about overdependence on foreign oil or a single trading partner.
The prefix signals that normal dependence has crossed into problematic territory.
Excessive need for closeness
- needinessExcessive emotional reliance
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- attachmentConnection or fondness
- possessivenessExcessive attachment to ownership
jealousy · self-doubt · fearfulness · worry · apprehension · separation anxiety · abandonment · validation-seeking
Powerful urge to have
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
- relapseReturn to former illness
- rehabilitationRecovery from injury/addiction
detoxification · intervention · compulsion · enabler · codependency · substance · therapy · obsession
Inability to affect outcomes
- incapacityLack of ability
- passivityState of non-resistance
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
- infantilizationTreating as immature
learned helplessness · paralysis · debilitation · defeatism · submissiveness · surrender · immobilization · inability
Ease of breaking
- susceptibilityLiability to influence
- precariousnessState of uncertain stability
- exposureState of being unprotected
- riskPossibility of harm
defenselessness · instability · weakness · liability · frailty · endangerment · overexposure · exploitation
clinginess
Excessive need for closeness
- needinessExcessive emotional reliance
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- attachmentConnection or fondness
possessiveness · jealousy · self-doubt · fearfulness · worry · apprehension · separation anxiety · abandonment · validation-seeking · smothering
craving
Powerful urge to have
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- toleranceWillingness to accept difference
- relapseReturn to former illness
rehabilitation · detoxification · intervention · compulsion · enabler · codependency · substance · therapy · obsession · addictive
powerlessness
Inability to affect outcomes
- incapacityLack of ability
- passivityState of non-resistance
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
infantilization · learned helplessness · paralysis · debilitation · defeatism · submissiveness · surrender · immobilization · inability · victimhood
fragility
Ease of breaking
- susceptibilityLiability to influence
- precariousnessState of uncertain stability
- exposureState of being unprotected
risk · defenselessness · instability · weakness · liability · frailty · endangerment · overexposure · exploitation · manipulation
- dependencerely, need, rely on, neediness, reliance
- unhealthy attachmentclinginess, codependency, enmeshment, clingy, neediness
- excessexcess, too much, excessive, excessiveness, overabundance
- attachment issuesattachment disorder, anxious attachment, attachment issues, attachment anxiety, avoidant attachment
overdependenceself-sufficiency
Independence from outside aid
self-reliance · independence · autonomy · self-support · detachment
overdependenceindependence
Freedom from external control
self-sufficiency · autonomy · self-determination · self-governance · sovereignty