5 Signs You Are Addicted To Love
5 Signs You Are Addicted to Love
and Ways to Recover
Being in love often creates a whirlwind of strong, perhaps even overpowering, feelings. Some people may be driven to seek out that experience repeatedly by the rush of joy, excitement, and other pleasant emotions that love may elicit. That can sometimes be described as a “love addiction.” While there is no medical diagnosis, it can seriously affect someone’s life and ability to form healthy relationships. Luckily, just like all addictions, you can treat love. It’s essential to recognize the signs you are addicted to love and learn ways to recover from this addiction and grow into a better version of yourself.
#1: Separation Anxiety
Do you find that even a small amount of separation between you and your lover is intolerable? Do you immediately get utterly devastated and upset? Missing your partner when they’re absent is pretty typical. However, if you experience excruciating agony when they aren’t around, it may indicate what some refer to as an unhealthy attachment or even love addiction. In some cases, people who experience this will even miss work or cancel plans with friends and family to be around their partner.
#2: Faking Interests to Impress Your Partner
It’s common for someone to be interested in something just because their sweetheart does. However, there is a narrow line between being open to new interests and pretending to be passionate about something to impress someone. Consider whether you are doing this solely to impress a possible partner if you are prepared to spend a lot of effort restructuring your life around a hobby that bores you. If you find this relatable, it’s one of the most significant signs you are addicted to love.
#3: Serial Monogamy
Do you jump from relationship to relationship because of an intense or insatiable need to be loved rather than a fear of being alone? People battling a love addiction frequently feel fine only when they are in a relationship. That may lead individuals to quickly transition from one harmful relationship to another. Every person has unique explanations for why they bounce back so rapidly. Some cannot bear being alone, while others hope the next one will improve. Love addicts frequently find a new partner as soon as a relationship ends, whatever the reason.
It might be challenging to make healthy decisions in the new relationship if you don’t first take the space you need to completely investigate why your previous one didn’t work. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable with yourself. Dig deep to discover your flaws and accept yourself just like you are.
#4: Staying in an Unhealthy Relationship
Do you feel you’re trying desperately to keep a relationship going even when it becomes potentially toxic or irreparable? That could be a sign you’re addicted to love. Refusing to end a bad relationship out of fear of losing love and being alone can only backfire. You can’t keep a partner solely by wanting to stay in a relationship.
Instead, you should be able to accept that not every relationship has to succeed. Sometimes it’s better for both of you to break up and move on.
#5: Intrusive Thoughts
When you initially fall in love with someone, during the “honeymoon phase,” it’s common to have your thoughts always focused on that person. However, it may be cause for concern if persistent thoughts about a specific person or the concept of love, in general, begin to have a detrimental impact on your work, studies, sleep, or any other aspects of your life.
It can be a bad sign if you begin fantasizing about that person too much or analyzing every interaction. That can potentially negatively impact your life since you might start making choices simply to be near that special someone.
For example, if a conversation about moving to another city or state solely to follow your loved one comes up, make the right decision based on real benefits and concerns, not just your impulses.
Ways to Recover From Love Addiction
Now that you know the most common signs you are addicted to love, it’s time to look at all the things you can do to recover from love addiction.
For starters, you need to understand that this type of addictive behavior can be caused by your genetic makeup, mental health, and obsessive, compulsive impulses. However, just like all addictions, you can treat them. Let’s look at some of the things you need to do to start your recovery from love addiction:
Recognize the significance of addictive love in your life. Being conscious is the first step towards changing anything. You run the danger of being stuck in the denial stage if you refuse to acknowledge the addictive features of your relationship.
Choose to quit your addiction. Once you are aware of your addictive tendencies in your relationships, you can choose to keep things the same or try to alter them. As you leave addiction, it’s crucial to decide to change and remind yourself why you want to change. You could anticipate that things would deteriorate before they improve, as if going through withdrawal.
Let go of the relationship. Start your recovery by ending the toxic relationship if your love addiction keeps you there.
Final Thoughts
All people in romantic relationships may occasionally display one or more of the abovementioned indications. But with love addiction, one or more symptoms tend to recur, leading to persistent adverse effects that worsen. Recognizing the signs you are addicted to love is the first step. Seeing it turn into constant patterns shows you need to quit your addiction. Love addiction is a complicated disorder that can be challenging to recover from without expert assistance, much like other addictions. So, if you’re struggling, reach out for help.
Meta: Do you know what love addiction is? Find out the most common signs you are addicted to love and ways to recover in this article.
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