Emotional dependency in a relationship can not only cause massive damage to the partnership, this type of fixation is also unhealthy for oneself. If you develop a kind of addiction related to your partner, the main consequence is that you no longer meet as equals within the relationship and love is usually damaged in the long run.
Researchers found that feeling in love triggers a more active state in the brain’s reward centers, which is also triggered in drug addiction. Based on this knowledge, many scientists such as Brian D. Earp, Olga A. Wudarczyk, Bennett Foddy and Julian Savulescu from Oxford University have already dealt with the question of how dependent love can be. To do this, they took 60 existing studies on the subject and evaluated them. They came to the conclusion that love can indeed cause dependency, addiction.
This kind of love is like a roller coaster ride. The researchers also found that people who had developed an addiction to their partner appeared to love more than others. This caused them to have strong positive feelings every time they saw or touched their partner, but a quarrel or even the separation of the loved one could quickly plunge the addict into severe depression and deep sadness.
Even neuroscience was already dealing with the topic of emotional dependence, one could even find that there were changes in the reward center in the brain in such addicts. The biggest problem, however, is that those affected do not even perceive their emotional dependency as such, but confuse it with great love.
A major burden in a relationship with an emotionally dependent partner is that there is often a great fear of separation. But that in turn leads to more drama, jealousy attacks, emotional blackmail and affect acts. A vicious circle that damages the relationship and puts the partner under massive pressure.
In various studies, the researchers also found signs of the cause of such addiction to a partner. People who tend to love too much often have low self-esteem, strong fear of loss and insufficient basic trust. In the long run, this love addiction is very stressful and exhausting for those affected, but unfortunately it can usually only be treated with therapy.
Sources: RND, BalanceBeautyTime, Practice Psychology
