Love addiction is a type of behavioral addiction triggered by the feeling of being “in love”. Love addiction is a lot like other addictions where a person obsessively and compulsively tries to relieve or medicate the deep pain in their life with feeling loved. In fact, the feelings of a love addict are just as false as the high a drug addict feels. The intense physical feelings of euphoria you have when you’re in love produce effects similar to using addictive substances. Infatuation creates a high, which can crash or dissipate quickly. Someone addicted to love becomes fixated on chasing that feeling, so they develop an unhealthy focus on the object of their affection.

Have you experienced these symptoms of love addiction?

• You think about the person you love constantly. You feel desperate for their time, attention, and approval.
• You have an intense fear of neglect or abandonment, which you feel can only be satisfied by thinking about or being with this person.
• You are focused exclusively on them – what they’re doing, how they’re feeling, where they are, how you can think about them again, when you can see them again, and so on.
• You crave the feeling that you get when you think about them or spend time with them, with an intensity that you can feel physically, like hunger or thirst.
• You forget or minimize the importance of self-care or neglect to take care of your own basic needs.

Not being with someone you love, or not being in love with someone, makes you feel physically ill or emotionally distraught.
While romantic love addiction is most common, you can also have intense cravings for attention and affection from familial or friend relationships. However it affects you, it is important to be aware of love addiction to avoid developing unhealthy relationship patterns.