Codependency is not an addiction in the traditional sense, but it certainly involves a compulsive pattern of behaviors that, when examined, resemble some of the traits seen in addiction.
Characterized by an unhealthy dependence on another person, codependent people often have trouble maintaining healthy relationships because they’re so focused on taking care of someone else that they neglect themselves. Here too, we can see a similarity between codependency and addiction as the person’s focus is narrowed to an unhealthy level; on a person or a substance or behavior, respectively.
Mental Health America notes that people with codependency “often” form one-sided relationships that are “emotionally destructive.”