Everything You Need To Know About ‘Love Addiction’ And How To Cope With It

1We love love, hai na? We’ve all grown up watching Shah Rukh Khan, the king of romance, in multiple romantic films. Bollywood has created the benchmark for love, romance and romantic gesture. While it may not be realistic, we can’t help but love the idea of a fleeting filmy romance. So in some way or the other, we’re all addicted to the idea of love and that’s alright as long as you don’t have ‘love addiction’. Yes, you read that right. Just like drug or alcohol or sex addiction, there’s a thing called ‘love addiction’ and it is very very real. Love addiction is a form of pathological passion or love related behaviour. In this addiction, the addict developed an unhealthy and obsessive fixation with a love interest as well as the feeling of falling and being in love.

Love is an amazing feeling but it can often manifest in an unhealthy way and make people behave in a strange or rather irrational way. While love addiction is more common in romantic relationships, it can also occur in other relationships. This can make it difficult for people to have healthy relationships. Apart from having an unhealthy and obsessive fixation with love, love addicts often have unrealistic expectations and standards of love which in turn makes their lives and relationship even more toxic. Along with this, an addict often feels the need to control their partner.

Love addiction actually has symptoms like any other mental health condition. While there is an ongoing debate about the term ‘love addiction’ among mental health professionals (and it is controversial), it is believed that this has a lot to do with delusional and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Usually, there are some common symptoms among love addicts that can be identified but it is safe to say that love addiction can differ from person to person.

Symptoms Of Love Addiction

1. Feeling obsessed and depressed because of love or your love interest

2. Feeling lost due to singlehood

3. Being overly dependent on your partner

4. Constantly seeking love and romantic relationships or partners

5. Obsessively thinking about your partner to the point that it disrupts your normal life

6. Difficulty in walking away from unhealthy relationships

7. Ignoring other relationships to prioritize one

8. Calling your love interest frequently (in an obsessive manner)

9. Stalking them

10. Controlling behaviour like controlling who they interact with

Also Read: Here’s Why Single People Feel Lonely During Holiday Season And 7 Things You Can Do About It

Coping With Love Addiction

Coping with something like love addiction is not easy but acceptance can be a good start. Understand that apart from coping, one also has to seek professional help to solve the underlying problem or mental health condition. Here are some ways to deal with love addiction.

1. Learn to be okay with being single and alone. Try to learn how to be alone without a partner or love interest. This will also help you explore and understand your triggers.

2. Keep an eye out for recurring patterns of behaviour. Most people with love addiction tend to repeat the same old behaviour and patterns as their previous relationship. Identifying these recurring patterns can help you eliminate such behaviour and work towards having a healthy relationship instead.

3. Learn to love yourself and focus on your self-growth. Love addicts often tend to ignore themselves and their needs for the sake of love or for their love interest. Now would be a great time to start loving yourself and focusing on yourself.

4. Nurture your other relationships too. Since it’s common for people with love addiction to neglect their other relationships, it is essential that you focus on your other relationships now. In fact, it would be good for a love addict to rely on his friends and family and seek their help in the process of healing.

Love is great but we all need to draw a line somewhere.

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