Love addiction is a human behavior in which people become addicted to the feeling of being in love. Love addicts can take on many different behaviors. Love addiction is common; however, most love addicts do not realize they are addicted to love. Love addiction can be treated with various recovery techniques, most of which are similar to recovery from other addictions such as sex addiction and alcoholism, through group meetings and support groups. Addictive love is an inclusive term in that it includes "addicts" and "co-addicts", "co-dependents", "emotional anorectics", and "love avoidants".
Healthcare professionals have not reached any consensus regarding whether love addiction exists or, if it does, how to describe or diagnose the phenomenon. There has never been a reference to love addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a widely recognized compendium of acknowledged mental disorders and their diagnostic criteria published by the American Psychiatric Association.
Read more about Love Addiction: History, Process, The Addictive Love Relationship, Delimiting Love and Sex Addictions, Love Withdrawal, Cultural Examples, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words love and/or addiction:
“If with light head erect I sing,
Though all the muses lend their force,
From my poor love of anything,
The verse is weak and shallow as its source.
But if with bended neck I grope,
Listening behind me for my wit,
With faith superior to hope,
More anxious to keep back than forward it,”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“All sin tends to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)