Thanks for the advice. It's strange; I guess I used to think that all of these things had happened by chance (it's not as though I met all of the unstable people or alcoholics I've been in relation to at bars or anything: lots of different circumstances). I guess the concept of codependency means that maybe the pattern is more fundamental than that. I also used to think that it was just that I'm attracted to "intense" people who sometimes happen to be unstable. I am really tired of focusing on other people and trying to figure out how to help them. Guess it's time to help myself for awhile. Thanks for the resources! I'll check out that book!