Are you Addicted to Love?

If you cannot live without being in a relationship or have a tendency of having one relationship after another or replacing the loss of one relationship with another immediately, this is known as love addiction. When we are in love our brain creates a chemical PEA, which brings excitement in our body, giving a feeling of high just like any drug. But once the feeling is no more our body starts feeling the withdrawal symptoms like. Shakiness, cramps, loss of apatite, loneliness etc and to regain the feelings, the addict will do anything.

Although love addiction is thought to be less serious that other addictions like sex addictions, food addictions or mutilation addiction but it is very painful and self destructive. A love addicted person can become obsessed with a partner and if not responded can become a stalker or he can be in and out of relationships too often, leading to guilt and shame. The problem should not be taking lightly as it can cause bad consequences. However, love addiction is treatable.

The traits which is often seen in a love addict is he/she is unable to develop trust in a relationship, is generally depressed, they are not ready to accept problems. Such people have low self esteem and fear of the unknown makes them very controlling. People who have this problem are destructive not only for themselves but for the partner also. Studies show that infatuation often takes the rational parts of their brain and makes it impossible to see the connection between their pain and suffering and the illusionary quality of what they seek as love.

Acknowledging the problem is very important as it limits and stunts the growth. It is a long process and you will need to find a therapist to treat this problem. You can even join a support group.