The term Mother-Enmeshed Man gets thrown around online as an insult. It’s a shorthand for a partner who can’t take your side over his mother’s.
Codependency is a relational pattern where individuals excessively engage in self-sacrifice for validation, approval, attachment, worth, and a sense of identity. This term originally emerged in the context of addiction by Melodie Beatty, describing the enabling and dependent behaviors observed in relationships with individuals struggling with substance abuse. Over time, its definition has broadened to encompass a range of unhealthy relationship dynamics.
