Is love considered an addiction?

“Romantic love is an addiction,” said study author Helen E. Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University who studies love. “It’s a very powerfully wonderful addiction when things are going well and a perfectly horrible addiction when things are going poorly,” she said.

Why is love considered an addiction?

Using fMRI, several scientists have now shown that feelings of intense romantic love engage regions of the brain’s “reward system”: specifically, dopamine pathways associated with energy, focus, motivation, ecstasy, despair, and craving, including primary regions associated with substance (and non-substance) addictions …

Is Love an addictive substance?

Obviously some researchers believe it is—hence the name, love addiction. Nevertheless, addictions appear to be very different from preoccupation with love: They involve ingestion of a chemical substance, craving, tolerance, withdrawal, desire to stop using but not being able to, and impairment in daily functioning.

Is profound romantic love an addiction?

These disputes express the complexity of the issue. I believe that profound romantic love is notan addiction, although some features of addiction, such as preoccupation, are to be found in it. However, not all types of preoccupation are harmful—when it is part of a flourishing life, it is beneficial and cannot be regarded as addiction.

What does dopamine have to do with Love?

All kinds of stimuli cause the release of dopamine in the reward pathways in various amounts, including food, sex, video games, social interactions, and shopping. Dopamine can be thought of as the neurochemical of desire. What Does Dopamine Have to Do with Love? Love may be associated with the heart, but it blooms in the brain.

Is pathological love an addiction?

If pathological love is an addiction, then it must be a behavioral addiction. Behavioral addictions (like gambling addiction) do not require the consumption of a psychoactive substance, but they share other characteristics with substance addictions.