Are You In Love or Just Addicted? 7 Signs You Might Have a Love Addiction (4 of 4)

You feel as though live isn’t worth living in the absence of your partner

A key characteristic of a love addict is their complete and utter dependency on their partner, and so the idea of breaking up with them seems unfathomable even if the relationship is doing them more harm than good. They want nothing more than to have their partner’s unconditional love, and any thoughts of being separated from them forever evokes feelings of worthlessness. Think of it the way you might a drug addict’s dependency on their drug of choice. They understand that meth is highly destructive in the short term and fatal in the long run, but as soon as they get off it, they crave it and their only desire is to start using again.

Your relationships might change, but the behavior remains the same

The underlying symptom of love addiction isn’t the individuals the person is looking to be in a relationship with, it’s the pattern of behavior. In other words, breaking up with a person that a love addict was initially addicted to doesn’t resolve the addictive behaviors. They will simply replace their partner with someone else whom they are equally addicted to. For this reason, recognizing this pattern is the first step to overcoming the addiction.