If the donor becomes overly invasive or dominating in their efforts to help, the taker may feel insulted or irritated. Some codependent friendships evolve into better ones. In other cases, however, the taker behavior can become too much for the donor to handle and the friendship ends. Don't be surprised if you experience some tension between certain codependent friends. It's normal to have differences of opinion, but it's important to keep those feelings hidden when you're being supportive of one another. Otherwise, the dependent people won't feel comfortable communicating their needs and desires. Codependents often seek out more than one friend because they believe that they can't survive alone. Even though this isn't true, they don't want to risk losing someone else who means so much to them. It's natural for codependent people to give and give until they're empty. Then they need to get something back from someone else. This might be emotional support, practical help, or material gifts. However, if you aren't ready or willing to provide these things, then you are putting undue stress on the codependent person. They will likely feel guilty for taking advantage of you and try even harder to make up for it later. Codependents love to help others.