Love Junkie Scan [better] -

As a child, you may have survived a chaotic environment by dissociating into romantic fantasies. By age ten, your brain had already wired itself to prefer a fake, perfect relationship over a messy, real one.

The love addict enters the relationship feeling an unbearable sense of inadequacy and rushes to merge. However, the avoidant, feeling smothered, pulls away. This triggers the addict's fear of abandonment, causing them to try even harder, which pushes the avoidant even further. This vicious cycle is the hallmark of a co-addicted relationship. Pia Mellody's book, Facing Love Addiction , outlines the stages of this cycle, from attraction and fantasy to denial and obsession. love junkie scan

Decoding the Love Junkie Scan: Understanding the Compulsive Need for Romantic Highs As a child, you may have survived a

The brain's reward system plays a significant role. The initial stages of love release high levels of dopamine (pleasure) and norepinephrine (excitement). For a love junkie, their brain may have a "more sensitive response" to these chemicals, making the "drug of choice" (love) especially intoxicating. Emotional Needs Using love to validate their self-worth. However, the avoidant, feeling smothered, pulls away

The term “love junkie” was popularized by author and therapist Anne Wilson Schaef, but it has deep roots in addiction medicine. A love junkie is not someone who simply enjoys being in love. It is someone who uses romantic relationships the way an alcoholic uses alcohol: to regulate mood, escape emotional pain, and feel whole.