Love addiction (or pathological love), which means an unhealthy obsession with someone else, may be characterised by obsessive thoughts, feelings, behaviours, or fantasies regarding another person; loss of self-control when thinking about or talking about the object of desire; and/or compulsive involvement in activities related to the relationship. SELF IMPROVEMENT COACHING CLICK HERE

In love addiction, the love is usually immature, external, uncertain and uncontrollable. Pathological love occurs at an estimated prevalence rate of between 3–10%.

However, its prevalence may be higher among some groups, such as college students. Pathological love is different from conditions like dependent personality disorder or borderline personality disorder.

In pathological love, there is no rational basis for the feelings involved. It, as such, differs from normal love in that regard.

In contrast to love addiction, which involves an intense emotional attachment to someone, sex addiction erotomania usually arises when people believe they’re sexually attracted to others but don’t actually feel any romantic attraction towards their partner.

In this article, we’ll address these questions:

Is love addiction real?

Is love addiction a real thing? Does love addiction really exist? Why do love addictions form?

What types of partners do love addicts choose? What is the cycle of love addiction?

Is love addiction bad?

How can someone recover from a love addiction?

Is love addiction real?

The question is, is love addiction real? It has been known to pop up in a lot of conversations, which denotes its existence, or at least its perceived presence in people’s lives.

However, it is important to note that “love addiction” has not yet been officially recognised by any professional organisation. Some mental health professionals argue against using the term “addiction” when talking about behaviours related to passions.

In addition, however, the term “addiction” can be quite helpful when trying to understand certain problematic relationships and behaviours. It can help shed some light on how to break an ingrained behavioural pattern.

Love addiction shares some similarities with other forms of addiction. Addiction varies widely depending upon which definition one uses for addictive behaviour.

Addiction can be defined as an unhealthy reliance on mind-altering substances. Compulsively engaging in pleasurable activities without regard to their negative effects.

As with any addictive behaviour, love addiction often develops out of an attempt to cope with some underlying emotional issue. Love addicts focus increasingly on their objects of obsession at the expense of loving themselves.

A love addict typically loses interest in things outside of his or her addictions. In addition, an addiction often leads to problems within one’s personal life and relationships. If the addiction is halted, the addict will experience an intense form of emotional withdrawal.

Helen Fisher, anthropologist and TED Speaker, answers the question, “Is love addiction real?” Love addiction is very real and “love addicts” exhibit all four of these behaviours: they crave their lover; become tolerant of them; feel physically ill when away from them; and return to them even after an absence.

Is love addiction a real thing?

“Anybody who says it’s not an addiction, all I can tell you is that we’ve looked in the brain,” said Dr. Fisher.

Utilising functional magnetic resonance imaging, romantic love has been studied and an increase in brain activity in a region called the nucleus accumbens has been detected. That region has been known to be active when behaviours become addictive.

Is love addiction a real thing? Some scientists won’t even recognise love addiction as a diagnosis. According to Brian D. Earp, a PH.D. candidate studying love addiction, “Love addiction is a contested concept.” He noted that some of the contention borders on the definition of love itself.

Mr. Earp said, “Some feminist philosophers argue that if a relationship is toxic or abusive, it shouldn’t earn the label “love,” adding that some would rather use the term “addiction in relation to toxic relationship behaviours rather than love.”

What complicates matters more is that experts can’t agree on the definition of addiction. According to Mr. Earp, some neuroscientists are of the opinion that anything labeled an addiction denotes something bad for you.

Therefore, if you engage in actions that may be considered unhealthy yet completely compatible with a thriving life, some experts would argue there’s no need to label such behaviour an addiction.

According to Jim Hall, MS, Love Addict Recovery Expert, “Love addiction is as real an addiction as any other addiction, in terms of patterns of behaviour and brain mechanisms.” Even though there are some professionals that doubt the existence of love addiction, it is critical to note that 20 to 30 years ago, many of these professionals also doubted the existence of sex addiction.

Now there’s very little to no argument about the existence of sexual addiction. Over the years, the attention paid to sexual addiction has skyrocketed due to the internet and the easy accessibility of pornography.

Interestingly, there’s a 12-step international recovery support group called Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, or SLAA. This group is spread across the globe because sex addiction is a major problem worldwide. Notice the inclusion of the word “love” in this international group.

This group doesn’t just cater to sex addicts but also love addicts. It is also available in many other countries. Many love addicts can also be sex addicts.

Undoubtedly, there are components of love addiction that can be found in sex addiction as well. In fact, some love addicts engage in SLAA as part of their recovery process. While many of the same

compulsions and desires for external validation are present in sex addiction, sex addiction is not the same as love addiction.

Is love addiction real? Some experts have concluded that it exists, while others are skeptical.The middle ground seems to be that if it does exist, it cannot be an addiction to real and genuine love, but rather to pseudo-love. Genuine love has real intimacy, flexibility, and congruence. It is not dependent.

It may feel like true love to the love addict, but these emotions aren’t real. Having feelings doesn’t necessarily translate to love. The love addict lives in denial of the existence of an addiction. They live in a fantasy land.

It is the fantasy, coupled with denial, that creates the “high” for the love addict. It activates brain chemicals that make love addicts feel “high,” or alive. As with any other addiction, it is designed to make you feel good, alive, and worthy and to help escape from the realities of life.

Simply put, “love addiction” refers to a psychological dependence on a person or a fantasy that results in certain compulsions, behaviours, and obsessions.

This is someone who desires to fantasise about another person despite the potential harm it may cause to the positive feelings. Endorphins and other neurochemicals in the brain create positive feelings.

With addictions, the addict experiences withdrawal without the substance or alcohol. Like with love addiction, withdrawal occurs when the addict can’t be present with the person they are addicted to.

Excruciating withdrawal can occur when a love addict is going through a breakup or when their partner continues to be distant.

The withdrawal symptoms will stop if the addict is able to get back with their partner. This works just like an alcoholic addicted to alcohol or a heroin addict addicted to heroin.

If the love addict can’t get back with the person, the next person to enter the addict’s life will replace the fantasy. This will bring relief to the addict’s life, although it may be temporary, just like other addictions.

The addict will need more of the drug they choose to use, as their tolerance increases. The same can be said for a love addict who is constantly looking for more intimacy, security, and assurance from the object of their addiction.

Does love addiction really exist?

A certain set of behaviours and characteristics define love addiction. Pia Mellody, author of Facing Love Addiction, says that the most important characteristic of love addiction is the ability to give too much time or value to another person. Someone suffering from a love addiction places their entire focus on the object of their addiction.

Obsessive focus can have a negative impact on their lives. Mellody says that love addicts don’t value or care for themselves during a relationship. Love addictions are characterised by a lot of fantasy. Love addicts are not aware of their addiction.

They’re not asking the questions: is love addiction real? Or does love addiction really exist? This lack of self-awareness allows them to have a blind devotion towards the object of their addiction.

Most love addictions are the result of childhood traumas. Love addicts have a tendency to fantasise about being saved. It’s almost as if they believe the person they long for is the only one in the universe capable of taking away their pain, giving them all they ever wanted as children, and making them feel valued, safe, and worthy. Due to this belief, love addicts are able to hold on to their relationship even if it is not perfect.

These relationships can often be very flawed. Love addicts will choose partners who are afraid of intimacy and who will neglect the relationship. The love addict believes that things will improve, that their partner will be more loving, and that they will finally find the love and fulfilment they desperately desire.

Love addicts ignore huge red flags in their partners’ lives. Friends and family often encourage them to find a better partner. Love addicts aren’t looking for someone better, but they do want to discover a better version of the one they love.

Love addicts are also known for having low self-esteem. They believe if they change themselves by losing weight or fixing character flaws, Their partner will offer them the relationship they have always wanted. This fantasy is like a lifeline that keeps the relationship alive.

Pia Mellody wrote that love addicts don’t seek mature intimacy. They want to enmesh, to merge, and to feel completely connected to their partners. This type of enmeshed intimacy can be described as a “fantasy bond,” an illusion of connection and closeness between two people that is substituted for feelings of real love and intimacy.

Why do love addictions form?

Love addiction can be traced back to childhood. Love addiction can be caused by a history of neglect, abandonment, or insufficient or inconsistent nurturing. Love addiction can be similar to other addictions. It is often caused by insecure attachment patterns.

The primary caregiver’s interactions with the infant during the first 18 months of life determine how attachment patterns develop. The infant must feel soothed, safe, and seen in order to form a secure attachment. It is crucial that caregivers respond to children when they are upset or in distress.

Securely attached children will always turn to their parents for comfort and to connect with them when they feel upset. They will then calm down and go back to what they were previously engaged in.

If a parent can’t soothe their child consistently, insecure attachment results. This is when the child becomes upset and turns to their parent for comfort. However, they may be ignored or dismissed by

an anxious or distracted parent who can’t properly soothe them. They might even be scolded, abused, or both for getting upset.

The attachment pattern formed by how attuned a parent is to their child in times of distress will continue to follow the child into adult relationships. Many love addicts have a parent or parents that were not connected with them as children.

They could not meet their children’s primary needs for love, validation, and connection. A child can feel extremely hurt by a lack of parental care or rejection. To avoid suffering, the child and then the adult retreat to a fantasy world of love.

Caroline Becker, a therapist who sought the opportunity to answer the question is love addiction real? Concluded that love addiction is formed when reality becomes too painful for the conscious mind to manage. She says that this happens because of an unconscious feeling of pain from trauma (emotional or physical) and/or neglect early in life.

The pain of trauma or neglect can be avoided by focusing on another person. This is why love addicts have intense needs in adult relationships. It’s because those needs weren’t met as children.

What is the cycle of love addictions?

Love addictions tend to develop predictably.

Both partners will be attracted to each other in the first stage of attraction. The love addict becomes obsessed with the idea of being saved as the relationship progresses. Their partner starts to build walls to prevent real intimacy.

Love addicts become obsessed with fantasies and blind to the real faults of their partner and relationships. They begin to focus on the relationship as the centre of their universe and become obsessed with it. The avoidant partner starts to withdraw more and more.

They begin to resent their partner’s neediness and insecurity and start to withdraw from the relationship. The love addict becomes more attached to their partner as they pull away.

Love addicts become frustrated and upset. They can’t make the relationship work, no matter how much effort they put into it. They attempt to fix their relationship by changing themselves whilst holding on to the fantasy that their partner will eventually change.

This is when the avoidant partner might be trying to distance themselves from the relationship by abusing drugs or alcohol, or even having an affair.

The love addict eventually recognises their partner’s bad behaviour. They might lash out with angry outbursts. They may act compulsively. The love addict may feel ashamed about their bad behaviour and apologise, returning to the fantasy that everything will work out.

This cycle may repeat itself many times over the course of a relationship. The avoidant partner can suddenly make a 180 and try to win the relationship back if the love-addicted partner leaves. The familiar dynamics will take control once the relationship is back on track.

Is love addiction bad?

Although it sounds like a love song, love addiction is possible. Desiring and craving love is not a problem by itself. And just because you are madly in love with someone doesn’t mean you have a love addiction.

If a person has a pathological desire to replicate the feelings of love, it can be called a “love addiction.” Some people can feel euphoric and elated when they are in love, and they can find themselves in an endless cycle of needing to replicate those feelings.

It’s almost like watching the best episodes of your favourite TV show, but you don’t know what’s next! People with a love addiction may become addicted to the excitement and euphoria of new relationships. These feelings can then turn into addiction.

So is love addiction bad?

It’s not practical to try and find the feelings of euphoria you feel when you fall in love again and again, as if you are trying to get your “fix.” If you or your partner want to be happy and settled in a committed relationship, this can cause problems.

It’s possible that the initial feelings of excitement, euphoria, and joy will diminish as the relationship develops. An addict to love may look for a way to access these feelings again and find them with someone else.

What kind of disorder is love addiction?

There are no agreed diagnostic criteria or definitions of love addiction.

Pathological love, for example, could be an impulse control disorder that is characterised by impulsivity or novelty-seeking. Some believe that pathological love can be a mood disorder.

People with love addiction may experience mood swings (e.g. hypomania and elation) similar to the feeling of falling in love at its early stage.

Another possibility is that love addiction is on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Like people with obsessive-compulsive disorders, love addicts might experience repetitive, intrusive thoughts. However, their obsessions are related to the person they love, and not to health or cleanliness.

Others have suggested that love addiction can be described as a biaxial continuum, with the vertical axis constituting attachment-related behaviours and the horizontal axis representing reward-seeking or impulsivity. In some cases, high levels of impulsivity, reward-seeking, and high attachment behaviour would be associated with obsessive-compulsive love. However, others would have high levels of reward-seeking, impulsivity, and attachment deficits. This would lead to high sexual interest and multiple sex partners.

Can mental health symptoms play a part?

Some mental health conditions can mimic withdrawal symptoms or addiction, especially in the context of loss of love or rejection. Cheatham points to anxiety as an example. Obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD) might also involve romantic fixations or the need for constant assurances about the relationship.

You might also find emotionally unavailable partners if you have attachment issues. You might feel drawn to abusive or toxic relationships, if you have experienced abuse or neglect in the past.

Any of these symptoms can be experienced, as well as other issues in your relationship, without the need for a mental health diagnosis. To address unsatisfactory or problematic relationships, you don’t have to be diagnosed with love addiction or withdrawal.

A therapist who is compassionate and experienced can help you navigate relationship-related distress.

Psychotherapy is a safe place to discuss your relationship goals and learn skills to make lasting, healthy commitments. By learning self-love, you can learn to be more aware of your needs and reconnect with yourself.

It is worth building a strong relationship with yourself, regardless of whether you are in love or not. How can someone recover from a love addiction?

The first step in recovering from love addiction is to recognise the problem.

You must first ask yourself this question: Is love addiction real? The answer to that question may help you recognise your unhealthy pattern of behaviour, which could be the premise of your fight against addiction.

The process of overcoming addiction can be difficult, just like with any other addiction. You may feel a sense of withdrawal. Love addicts who are recovering from their addiction may need to confront unresolved childhood traumas. With help, it is possible to break the cycle of love addiction and form close, fulfilling relationships.

Many people get help from a 12-step program for their love addiction. Meetings are offered by Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous worldwide.

Pia Mellody explains that there are four stages to recovery from love addiction.

First, address other addictive behaviours, such as drinking, eating disorders, and so on.

The second step is “to remove yourself from the addictive aspect of the relationship process.”

Third, seek out a therapist to address unresolved childhood traumas. Mellody says, “In my experience, most people who have been in toxic relationships as adults need therapy to deal with the internal residue of negative and unresolved childhood feelings.”

Fourth, address the co-dependent symptoms.

It is important for a recovering addict to pay attention to who they are drawn to in a new relationship. They may revert to the same destructive relationships.

Pia Mellody provides some useful journal exercises in “Facing Love Addiction.” This book includes exercises on “Acknowledging Your Addiction,” “Facing Your Symptoms,” and “Recognising Your Movement Through the Emotional Cycle.”

Love addicts will find it easier to end the cycle if they can recognise, articulate, and understand their roles in the addiction. They can gain inner security by understanding their past and resolving childhood traumas. You can use the eCourse Making Sense of Your Life as a tool to help you in this process.

Is love addiction real?

Introduction

Love has always been considered one of the most intense passions throughout history. “Ovid” first declares, “I cannot live with or without you.” An expression made mainstream by the Irish band “U2. ”

Many contemporary films express similar notions: for example, in “Brokeback Mountain” Jake GYllenhall;s character famously says: “I wish I could stop loving you.” Everyday language, too, is full of these kinds of expressions: “I need you,” “I’m addicted to you.” These phrases capture something most people experience firsthand—that when they’re in love, they feel an overwhelming desire to be near someone else, even if they don’t want to be there at all.

In most cases, love addiction is an unhealthy obsession with one person at the expense of others. It’s usually accompanied by feelings of desperation and insecurity when things don’t go according to plan. If someone has a love addiction, they may seek out relationships where they can experience the thrill of falling for someone again quickly without having to invest too much time into building up feelings of commitment.

You might be asking the question Is love addiction in the DSM? A recent study found evidence suggesting that romantic love may be physically addicting. We distinguish between two views of love addiction.

A narrower one sees love addiction as an extreme form of romantic passion. In contrast, the broader perspective sees even simple forms of social attachment as being on an addiction spectrum, which shares common neural mechanisms with more complex forms of addiction.

On both understandings of addiction, treatment decisions should be made by considering whether they would lead to the greater good for the addict and others.

Love addiction creates fixated feelings and compulsive actions in relationships and may lead to destructive behavior toward loved ones. People who suffer from love addiction often put the needs of others above their own. Love addiction can lead to divorces, low job performance, affairs, relationship strain, low concentration on basic tasks, clinginess, enmeshment, and major emotional distress.

When there’s an imbalance between high emotions and low emotions, it might create tension in the relationship. As a result, love addiction may include some aspects of a lack of control similar to other types of addictive behaviors, including sex addiction or drug abuse.

Is love addiction a thing?

Society has written a narrative about “love addiction” which seems to minimize it as a condition that can lead to harm. Movies and songs often talk about love as a drug.

Is love addiction a thing? or is love addiction in the DSM? There is evidence to suggest it is a thing even though It is not a recognized mental disorder in The DSM-V (the diagnostic manual used by psychologists) but it is interesting to access these criteria for substance abuse disorders.

You long for the substance
Not able to stop/reduce even though you want to.
Wasting a lot of time obtaining, using, and recovering from the
Using the substance in higher amounts or for a longer time than is recommended.
Ignoring important aspects of your life due to substance abuse.
constant use despite the strain it puts on your relationships.
Using it despite the danger it places you in

The following is what you get if you replace “substance” with “dating” or “relationship” in the above-listed criteria:

You long for a relationship

This criterion requires that you desire to use the relationship and not just the feeling of being in a romantic relationship. Love addicts treat relationships like batteries until it runs out of juice. Love addicts tend to have shorter relationships, moving on to the next relationship as their bodies acclimate to the ‘highs’ of their current state.

Not able to stop or reduce even though you want to

Classic Addict Behavior.

Even though they are aware it is not healthy for their health, some people continue to live in abusive or toxic relationships. Some people return to abusive relationships even after they leave them. This is not because they have to survive financially or physically, but because of their “love”. A relationship or an experience can have a significant impact on a person’s life and prevent them from living the best life for themselves.

The relationship or serial dating is what controls you. You are both aware and powerless to change it.

Using the relationship in a higher amount or for a longer time than recommended.

What does it mean to “use” a relationship in a higher amount or for longer than recommended?

It’s interesting to see that not all people enter relationships with clear goals or a defined purpose. They either feel butterflies or someone pursued them and they can connect romantically with the person.

This lack of definition means that people don’t know when a relationship is not beneficial. They may engage in a romantic relationship, marriage included, in a way that is toxic for their lives.

It is possible for people to not be aware of what a codependent or unhealthy relationship looks like. How would they know if they were in it for longer than they should be?

Not knowing how long it is acceptable to stay in a relationship means you’re unaware of the problem. Toxic relationships can be very damaging, even if the awareness is not present. Either they don’t understand what an unhealthy relationship is, or they don’t know enough to end it. This reinforces the notion that romantic relationships should be taken in higher doses or for longer periods than they are “meant”.

Ignoring important parts of your life because of your relationship

Many of us have dropped off the face of the earth because we got into a new relationship. As time passes by, we may start losing friends, hobbies, and interests. This is the result when you don’t feed your pursuits and interests outside of your relationship.

It is easy to forget important parts of your life and get caught up in romance due to the amazing chemical highs of the honeymoon phase.

If your life is shaped by a relationship, with one person for a longer time or with multiple people for shorter times, Without proper attention, you may see pieces of your life slowly disappearing.

Despite the strain it puts on your relationships, you continue to use it.

We all know someone who will ignore the input of their closest family and friends about a relationship if it is unpleasant.

This can cause tension in relationships, regardless of whether or not it is good advice. This can lead to elopement, which can result in the dissolution of their parental relationships. They might also complain about the drama in their relationships.

Continuing in a relationship even if it puts you in danger

Although this seems extreme, people will do anything to protect their relationships, even if it means putting themselves in danger. This woman had lye thrown at her and still got married to the perpetrator. Another lady cut out her tattoo from her body and sent it to her ex. People are known to do outrageous things and still date regardless of the consequences.

Signs of Love Addiction

Love addicts may become obsessed with their love interests and seek out relationships just for the honeymoon phase. They might also become too dependent on their partner and be very clingy.

Signs of love addiction may include feeling euphoric from your fantasized relationship, uneasy or desperate when you are separated from it, and excessive interest in the new relationship.

The following signs can be signs of love addiction, but they aren’t the only ones.

Constant anxiety that your partner will leave you.

All love addicts fear abandonment from their partners and being left alone. Even though a love addict may be in an intimate relationship with someone else, he/she remains extremely insecure, anxious, and needy at heart.

As an avoidant love addict, you steer clear of emotional intimacy.

Love addicts can be either obsessive or avoidant.

Obsessive and avoidant love addicts often date and dwell in toxic relationships. The obsessive follows the avoidant, and the avoidant keeps them at bay. The avoidant seduces the obsessive into a new relationship, instead of letting them go.

It is a never-ending cycle of distancing and pursuit. Although the avoidant may appear aloof and uninterested in the world, their innermost nature is love-addicted. They are overwhelmed by intimacy and closeness. But the subconscious layer is that they fear being abandoned.

You obsess over your partner.

When love addicts are portrayed in films or television, they’re often portrayed as obsessive love addicts. Obsessive love addicts will fixate on the object of their addiction, which could sometimes lead to disastrous endings.

You feel your partner is the only reason you’re living.

Since love addiction is fed by dependency, it may feel impossible to break up with your partner even if the relationship is unhealthy. This dependence can feel similar to a drug addict’s craving for the drug of their choice. Although they may be aware that their partner is not good for them, they still have to return.

This is called a compulsion. When the object of their obsession is taken away from them, the desire for their lover’s unconditional love may be so strong that their lives may seem meaningless and even unimportant.

Your partner is the only thing that makes you feel good in life.

Love addicts tend to place all their self-esteem, positive feelings, and purpose in life on the objects of their addiction. They place all their positive feelings about themselves on the altar of being with this person.

This is codependency, which can lead to love addiction. Co-dependency occurs when one person can’t be independent or manage their affairs, they become dependent on the other.

This is a pattern of behavior in your relationships, not an exception.

Love addiction is based on a pattern of behaviour, so even if a love addict breaks up with the person he/she was originally addicted to, he/she usually moves on very quickly to his/her next partner. Becoming aware of the pattern will be the first step to stopping the pattern.

Is love addiction the same as codependency?

You hear “true love” and “soulmate” being used all around you. It is believed that only when you find the perfect person can you be happy. Love is a powerful drug that can’t be escaped. But when a relationship is intensely hot and heavy, does that make it true love? Or is it something else? Codependency is a term you may have heard of but aren’t sure what it means. What can you do to tell if your relationship has a healthy foundation or if you have what is sometimes called love addiction?

Is love addiction the same as codependency?

What exactly is Love Addiction?

Love addiction refers to the persistent and compulsive pursuit of romantic love. Love addicts are dependent on the intense feelings of romance and infatuation that a relationship brings to their self-worth and security.

A love addict may experience a few short relationships and then feel disappointed when the high of “falling in love” ends. They believe “true love” will soon be found and believe it will fix all. They subconsciously fear rejection and true intimacy. While they may feel negative emotions

and consequences for their behavior, love addicts are often unaware of the root causes. Codependency is closely linked to love addiction and they have many behavioural patterns in common.

What is codependency?

Is love addiction in the DSM? No, it is not, but neither is codependency. Codependency is a term that originated out of drug and alcohol addiction. It has many, oftentimes vague, definitions.

Codependency can be described as a need for love that is rooted in inadequacy and insecurity. Codependent people look to their partner for help with their self-esteem, pain relief, and to fill their inner emptiness. The reality is that the partner can’t be who they are. They are instead forced on playing the role of codependent, which is to give unconditional love and security. There is never enough love. To get the love they desire, the codependent person continues to work to please their partner. This becomes a self-perpetuating pattern of compulsive and obsessive thinking. This is why codependency can also be called love addiction or relationship addiction.

How do you distinguish between healthy love and codependency?

Not all codependents have a love addiction, but all love addicts are codependent says pia melody in “facing love addiction.”

Both go hand in hand, they’re the same topic. A codependent person, also known as a love addict, is someone who looks for love in the wrong places.

A codependent person can be called love addicted. All of us desire to exist in a loving relationship. Everyone wants to be loved and able to give love to their partner. It fulfills a fundamental human need for belonging and emotional fulfillment.

Love addiction is when a relationship is rooted in feelings of low self-esteem and insecurity. which leads to Codependent people losing their sense of self and focusing completely on their partner’s needs.

It’s difficult to see the differences between these concepts. These two concepts were created and developed, though in different decades, to refer to the same dysfunctional patterns many people display in romantic relationships.

Codependency and love addiction are, in essence, about:

Getting lost in relationships, living in a cycle of unresolved trauma, and justifying all of it by convincing yourself it is because you “really love” your partner.

Is love addiction in the DSM?

Love addiction refers to a model of pathological passion-related behavior that involves the feeling of falling in love. Medical reviews of similar behaviors in humans and animals concluded that there is no evidence to support a model of addiction for maladaptive passion-related behavior.

Is love addiction in the DSM? Love addiction is not a diagnosis in the DSM-5, but sufficient literature supports its classification as an independent mental disorder.

There are concerns about the possibility of pathologizing everyday experiences. This could lead to an almost unlimited number of behaviors that could be classified as addictions. Love addiction (LA), one of the potential behavioral addictions that are not included in current systematic classifications for mental disorders, has been given particular attention.

LA, also known as pathological love, can be described as a pattern in behavior that is marked by an excessive, maladaptive, and pervasive interest in one or more romantic partners. This results in a lack of control, the renunciation of other interests, and behaviours.

Is love addiction in the DSM? Even though it was proposed to be included among the behavioral addictions. However, there is not a consensus on the nosology of LA. According to literature data, different authors may have used different criteria to diagnose it, depending on the clinical and phenomenological features they highlighted in their descriptions.

Depending on the approach taken, the boundaries between LA and normal romantic experiences

may be conceptually unclear. I s love addiction in the DSM? Some authors suggest a

dimensional approach to LA, where the differences between the two conditions are purely quantitative. This is due to the many similarities between addictive behaviors, regular romantic experiences, and LA. This approach would suggest that LA could be a separate disorder, due to its higher degree of psychological suffering and a more severe functional impact than “normal” love.

Is love addiction curable?

It might not be possible to cure these perilous feelings without anti-love biotechnology, or at least non biotechnological methods that have been thoroughly tried. Only a trained professional should guide you in any drug-based treatment for love or other love-related phenomena. Only after rigorous clinical testing has been done, can you begin to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.

Although there is limited evidence in the medical literature regarding the treatment of love addiction, especially concerning pharmacological interventions. However, several agents could be beneficial in this situation. Although psychotherapy is frequently cited as the foundation of treatment for love addiction, its effectiveness has not been adequately investigated.

Is love addiction in the DSM? just because it isn’t officially recognised doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist? It certainly doesn’t mean it can”t be cured. Like any other type of addiction, love addiction can be treated in many ways. professional counseling, cognitive-behavioral methods, psychoanalysis, or any combination thereof, are the most likely to be used. These modalities primarily focus on the psycho-behavioral levels. It is possible, however, to develop adjunctive drug-based therapies for problematic forms of love, based on neurochemical substrates, given the recent surge in research on the neurobiological causes of love addiction.

So is love addiction curable? Love addiction might not be fully curable, but it can be managed with the following;

Therapy
Understanding the root cause of the problem
Replacing the “high” you get from the relationship with something more positive.
Finding a hobby that you love and focusing your attention on your life is
Loving yourself so you don’t keep seeking love and validation from others.
finding value in yourself, few people will stand against it unless they make a difference in your

Love is addiction quotes

The following are Love is addiction quotes to help reaffirm the realness of it.

“Just because something is addictive doesn’t mean that you will get addicted to it. But . . . if your stomach ties up in knots while you count the seconds waiting for a phone call from that special someone . . . if you hear a loud buzzing in your ears when you see a certain person’s car (or one just like it) . . . if your eyes burn when you hear a random love song or see a couple holding hands . . . if you suffer the twin agonies of craving for and withdrawing from a series of unrequited crushes or toxic relationships . . . if you always feel like you’re clutching at someone’s ankle and dragged across the floor as they try to leave the room . . . welcome to the club.”

Ethlie Ann Vare, Author

I liked it. I craved it. I wanted more and I took it. I took it like I needed it, like my life had a limit and if I didn’t get as much of it as I could, I’d quit breathing the next instant.”

Kristen Ashley, “Until the Sun Falls from the Sky”

“You’re an addiction… my obsession…”

Sylvia Day, Author

Worse than drugs is drug trafficking. Much worse. Drugs are a disease, and I don’t think that there are good drugs or that marijuana is good. Neither cigarettes nor addiction is good. I include alcohol. The only good addiction is love. Forget everything else.

Jose Mujica, Author

Love is your addiction to an eternal longing for someone… A thirst which one cannot relinquish

Seema Gupta, Author.

Love is addiction game

Love addiction is so widespread that it has inspired its love is addiction games. We highlight a few of those games below.

Nurse Love Syndrome is a visual story game created by Kogado Studio’s Shimarisu-san Team. Sakusa Sakura is the scriptwriter. The series’ official name is “ShiroKoi”, abbreviated as such. It uses the first two kanji from the title. The visual novel is about Kaori Sawai, a young girl who was saved from an accident in her youth by hospital staff and decides to repay them by becoming a nurse at 21.

Another love is addiction game follows the life of Asuka Osachi, a young girl who dreams of becoming a nurse at Teito Nursing School. Share in her story as she learns to navigate love, medicine, and adulthood.

Nurse Love Addiction, a Visual Novel in the yuri genre by Degica Games, was released in April 2015 in Japan for the PlayStation Vita. It was released in december 2015 on PC. On July 8, 2016, it was available worldwide via Steam on July 8, 2016 as well as December 26, 2019, via Nintendo Switch. Limited Run Games released a physical version in 2020, along with its prequel titled Nurse Love Syndrome. It is about a young nurse student navigating love and medicine.

In Conclusion

Is love addiction real?

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that love addiction is real. To avoid suffering from unbearable pain, people develop an addiction. An addiction can lead to dangerous, sometimes untreated consequences. People can only do something about addiction when it becomes unbearable.

Love addicts are known to spend a lot of time and effort on the person they love. They value their loved one more than themselves and are often obsessive about it.

These love addicts abandon their well-being and important aspects of their lives in order to remain connected to their object of affection.

What Exactly Is Love Addiction?

Is love addiction real?

Is love addiction a real thing?

Does love addiction really exist?

Why do love addictions form?

What is the cycle of love addictions?

Is love addiction bad?

Can mental health symptoms play a part?

Is love addiction real?

Not able to stop or reduce even though you want to

Ignoring important parts of your life because of your relationship

Despite the strain it puts on your relationships, you continue to use it.

Continuing in a relationship even if it puts you in danger

Signs of Love Addiction

Constant anxiety that your partner will leave you.

As an avoidant love addict, you steer clear of emotional intimacy.

You obsess over your partner.

You feel your partner is the only reason you’re living.

Your partner is the only thing that makes you feel good in life.

Is love addiction the same as codependency?

Is love addiction the same as codependency?

Is love addiction in the DSM?

Is love addiction curable?

Love is addiction quotes

Love is addiction game

In Conclusion

Further reading

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