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Post by anne12 on Nov 24, 2019 11:51:02 GMT
Love addiction explaind by an attatchment therapist:
Love Addiction/crush addiction:
Love addiction or "crush"addiction can be described as a dependence on the dopamine that is created in the brain when we fall in love.
The effect lasts approx. 9 months. It is the same effect as when we are taking heroin.
After " falling out of love", you need to find a new person you can fall in love with, so that you can experience the same dopamine rush as before. You become addicted to falling in love/of experience the dopamin rush.
This may be part of an ambivalent pattern or the desorganized pattern.
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Post by serenity on Nov 24, 2019 21:01:21 GMT
Thats interesting that love/crush addiction is defined as an addiction to Dopamine only. Whereas normal love bonds are said to be driven by mainly oxytocin (the bonding chemical), dopamine, and other hormones including serotonin, cortisol etc
Those neurochemicals and hormones get severely dysregulated if the bond becomes traumatic/intermittent/unstable.
It kind of explains how some people can replace one `crush object' after an another without remorse or true bonding (low oxytocin, high dopamine addiction), whereas other people bond deeply (high oxytocin, normal relationship to dopamine ) and tend to hold on to their bonds with attachment figures.
Dopamine's an interesting one. Addicts (and victims of traumatic relationships) can severely stress their dopamine receptors and reduce their numbers, to the point where dopamine levels become chronically low. They become vulnerable to anything that boosts dopamine... love, sex, porn, alcohol, other drugs, risky shopping, gaming, food etc. I've read teatment plans for treating dopamine receptor loss, usually they involve withdrawing from sources of `high dopamine', and taking the stress off receptors. They do gradually return to normal if allowed time to heal.
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Post by serenity on Nov 25, 2019 8:12:41 GMT
Thats interesting that love/crush addiction is defined as an addiction to Dopamine only. Whereas normal love bonds are said to be driven by mainly oxytocin (the bonding chemical), dopamine, and other hormones including serotonin, cortisol etc Those neurochemicals and hormones get severely dysregulated if the bond becomes traumatic/intermittent/unstable. That's because all of those exciting feelings are not true love. And it's highly immature to think they are. It's counterintuitive. It's not that you need more dopamine but that you need to lay off of it because our bodies cannot sustain that high; our brains get used to the dopamine. Like when taking meds and the dose has to be increased because our body adjusts to it. I think those plans meant exactly that.. withdrawing from dopamine as a drug basically. Letting your receptors go back to normal sensitivity (and quantity). Maybe thats what you meant too, or at least I think we agree. Yeah, its dehumanising to feel treated like a drug. Honeymoons with sexual involvement make me feel uncomfortable, like there's not enough knowledge of one another, and too much `stuff' . I love going slow. |
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