Love addiction often begins like a dream: moonlit walks, whispered promises, the heart racing as if it has finally found home. But dreams blur, and for some, that first rush becomes a craving that never ends.
This isn’t simply falling in love. It is when romance becomes a drug, intoxicating, consuming, impossible to put down. For some, love is a chapter in life’s story. For the love addict, it is the whole book, read and re-read until the pages fray.
Think of it like this: a person staring at a dimly lit phone, waiting for a text that might never come. Or someone pouring their heart/every ounce of attention into a partner across the table, while their own plate grows cold. Love addicts live in this emotional landscape, a theatre of soaring highs and crushing lows.
At its core, love addiction is the endless search for something outside the self. The euphoric “rush” of romance soothes fear, loneliness, or emptiness for a moment; like waves rushing to shore, only to pull back again. The relief never lasts, so the craving begins anew.
The many faces of love addiction include:
Often, these roles overlap. A person might stay in a loveless marriage for security, while juggling affairs for excitement, and then fall obsessively in love with someone entirely unavailable. The heart becomes a restless traveler, never at home, always chasing the next horizon.
Food for Thought
At its root, love addiction is about searching for fulfilment outside of oneself;…a partner, a relationship, or an experience to fill an inner emptiness. The temporary high feels like relief, but it never truly heals the wound.
The truth is, real/lasting stability and fulfilment can only come from within. When we learn to sit with ourselves, build self-worth and self-love, we no longer chase love to survive, but rather choose it to thrive.
Next week, we will explore the causes of love addiction, how early experiences, unmet needs, and childhood patterns/traumas set the stage for this cycle.
Perfectionism is often mistaken for being perfect or doing something perfectly. Many assume it must be a good thing, while others see it as something negative or even embarrassing. But the real question is this: Is perfectionism good or bad? What is Perfectionism? Perfectionism is a set of self-defeating thought
A love addiction self-assessment helps you to quietly reflect on whether your approach to love stems from genuine connection or from a deeper unmet need that feels like addiction, as I mentioned in my previous post. Love addiction occurs when we become consumed by the idea of love itself. We
Love addiction is when we become consumed by the idea of love itself. We cling so tightly to someone that our world begins to revolve around them, i.e., work, friendships, and even our health slowly fades into the background. And when the relationship ends, panic sets in, sparking the desperate