Love Hearts and Insanity: Are You Addicted to Love?

There are people in the world who express their love in a healthy way and there are people out there who express their love in such an intense way, they make their own lives and the lives of those around them completely miserable. So which category do you fall into?

We’ve all heard about sex addiction (David Duchovny, Russell Brand, how are ya?) but do you know anything about love addiction?

Yes, believe it or not, you can get addicted to love. We know, we know. If only someone had chosen to heed the warnings of Robert Palmer in the late Eighties. If only.

But despite his catchy rendition of the effects of love addiction, people across the world are currently being afflicted by the condition. There are support groups, online forums – the works.

So what is love addiction then?

Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. A love addict is someone who has developed an overwhelming addiction to being in love. They love love. They love the emotions, the ups and downs and the entire process of falling in love. Occasionally they even love the person who is the catalyst for all these happy feelings. (Lucky them).

However the love addict doesn’t know when to stop loving and, as such, they tend to smother their partner, who in turn freaks out and makes a swift exit in the hopes of finding a less loving partner. When you’ve been on the receiving end of too much love, you sort of need someone to hate you for a bit, apparently.

It is estimated that love addiction affects 1 in every 10 people worldwide, whether they’re aware of it or not. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish whether or not you actually are addicted to love. We all know that falling in love makes everyone a bit crazy, but what’s considered normal ‘falling-in-love’ behaviour and what’s not?

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, we recommend that you seek some professional help pronto…

• Do you have a secret shrine hidden in the back of your wardrobe that is dedicated solely to your beloved (be it Justin Timberlake, Brad Pitt or your boyfriend)?
• Do you pause a film on the scenes where your favourite actor takes his top off or flashes some skin?
• Can you occasionally be found hiding in the bushes outside your boyfriend’s house?
• Does your boyfriend often accuse you of ‘leering’ or ‘creeping’ on him?
• Do you burst into tears every time you say goodbye to your boyfriend – even if you’re just running down to the shop to buy some milk?
• Has your beloved told you that you sometimes act a bit creepy?
• Have you kept one of his toe nails/some of his drain hair as a prized token?
• Do you often make him mix tapes of all the songs that describe how you FEEL about him?
• Do you sometimes subject him to one-woman shows of you performing said songs?
• Are you guilty of over-the-top Facebook PDAs on your boyfriend’s wall?
• Do you insist on calling him ‘pookie’ or ‘snookums’ in public?
• Do you insist that he calls you ‘babe’ or ‘honeybun’ in return?
• Do you occasionally steal his clothes just so you can smell them at a later date?
• When you go anywhere, do you insist on being all over him in public? (Example: sitting on his lap in the cinema, spoon-feeding him when you go to a restaurant…)

Ladies, if a few of these questions are ringing a disturbingly-familiar bell, it’s probably best that you get yourself some help or start weaning yourself off your man because you are exhibiting all the behaviours of a hard-core love addict. It may sound funny or stereotypically stalker-esque but this is extreme behaviour.

Remember, the only time the above behaviour is acceptable is when you’ve managed to snare Ryan Gosling, the Fassbender or someone equally as hot.

When you have the Fassbender on your arm, then feel free to engage in all the strange, crazy, addictive behaviour you want. You may as well enjoy it while it lasts like!