Love addiction may be considered as involving in a repeated uncontrollable and negative behavior as a result of obsession over a particular person or thing. Love addiction is often regarded as a process addiction such that it is related to a form of persistent behavior that at first may result in some form of delightful feelings, and captivating thoughts and this feelings and thoughts may be described or explained as a craving for a continuous connection with the love object.
A key feature of love addiction is a belief that there are relationships which have the potency to surmount any challenge or obstacle.
Love addiction may arise from abnormalities in social learning process, which may be influenced by some mass media portrayals or some other cultural events. There are certain views and opinions that romantic love does exist in long term relationships. However, fixation is only found at the beginning of love relationships.
It is important to note that love addiction may not only arise from aberrations in social learning process, but also from developmental experiences such as formation of social attachment in childhood. Hence, if love addiction tends to stem from difficulties in attachment right from childhood, then it is possible to observe addictive behavior occurring even in their teenage years and also adulthood.
The mass media may have an important role to play in the selling and development of love addiction. For instance, in pop music for young ones, love is connected with emotional craving and obsession, a responsive high fantasy, a longing for a loved one, obsessive thinking and imagination, romanticism and extreme or over dependence on the love object.
There are many mass media outlets that can transfer love addiction qualities via romance novels, movies, television, music, greeting cards and other online mediums. For instance, chat rooms provide a means intense, intimate and cozy relationships and communications, while leaving out or omitting a range of visual signals or reminders and mandating one to take turns in interactions. This then creates fantasies and illusions about the daily lives of other persons staying far away, and leading to an immature expression of love without having any personal or physical contact with such persons.
Love addiction shows a confined pattern of repeated behavior directed toward a love object or being and hence, leads to a negative role and other negative consequences. It is most likely depicted and established in media outlets as a means to real and true love.