Codependency is a symptom of two cycles happening in the background.
Those cycles are:
- The S.A.D. Cycle
- The E.D.D. Cycle
Today we’re exploring the S.A.D. Cycle:

Think of codependency like the blood that comes out of a wound.
The blood only happens if you are cut or wounded.
The blood stops and your body recovers when the wound is treated.
Healing from codependency works the same way.
Most systems and therapies attempt to address the codependency as if it were the cause.
It is not.
Codependency is the symptom – the blood coming out of the wound.
What’s the wound? The Discard Trauma.
This is a specific type of trauma that leaves us fearful of being disposed of, tossed aside, and treated like a disposable item. We are left feeling devastated, gutted, and lost.
This kind of trauma happened through repeated cycles of being SEDUCED, ABUSED, and DISCARDED.
These three phases are what I call: “The S.A.D. Cycle”. Learn more about each of them here: