A healthy relationship dynamic where people rely on each other while maintaining their individual identities and autonomy. Unlike codependency, interdependence involves mutual support without losing oneself in the relationship.
From Latin 'inter-' (between) and 'dependere' (to hang from), literally meaning 'hanging between.' The psychological distinction from codependency emerged in the 1990s as therapists sought to describe healthy mutual reliance versus unhealthy fusion.
Interdependence is like a dance where partners move together but each maintains their own rhythm and style - they enhance each other without losing themselves. It's the sweet spot between the isolation of complete independence and the suffocation of codependency.
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