A healthy relationship makes a person feel good about themselves. The individual feels motivated, loving and full of life, but this is not always the case. Sometimes losing control in a relationship can make you feel anxious, needy and dependent. Relationship addiction has its ups and downs. This is why all addictions are caused by the anxiety of feeling inadequate, unable to cope and emotional deprivation. Sometimes a person may feel a need for the other person, but if this becomes constant, addiction develops. This unhealthy need can lead to jealousy and stress. An addict is also much more likely to become attached to someone who is narcissistic, selfish and self-oriented.
What is Relationship Addiction and What are the Symptoms?
Addiction is the inability to control one's behaviors, emotions and thoughts, and a state of conflict with oneself, despite wanting to control them. Relationship addiction, which is one of the biggest problems experienced in relationships recently, starts to make both the addict and the addicted person unhappy. In relationships where relationship addiction develops, there is a situation of living in an isolated relationship. The environment has decreased, the time the couple spends alone has increased, communication with families has decreased, and relationships with friends have decreased. In other words, the couple started to be more alone.
Relationship dependency progresses in relationships in a way that further increases relationship dependency, that is, the dependency of the parties on each other has increased due to isolation. This increases the obligation of individuals to each other. In these situations, the emotional-mental change in one party directly affects the other party. In other words, while being so intertwined is an obstacle for the relationship to work, it also increases the rate of dependency. Here are 9 dangerous signs that you are addicted in your relationships;
- Forgetting yourself
- Overreacting
- Wanting to stay in constant contact
- Developing an excessive sense of jealousy
- Lack of a sense of longing
- Constantly scrutinizing the other party on social media
- Entering every area of the person at the beginning of the relationship
- Feeling a constant need for approval
People who experience relationship addiction as mentioned above cannot make healthy decisions and think clearly in that relationship. This thinking puts the person in an even more difficult job over time. In order not to lose their partner, the person wants to be the perfect lover, to meet all their expectations, to ensure that they do not need anyone else by filling their every moment. After a while, the person develops relationship addiction. The point that the person should be aware of here is to interpret their behavior in the relationship correctly. Thinking that one loves the other person very much and missing them very much in a relationship is sometimes an unwitting anxiety of loss. If the person is aware of this, they can control these behaviors more easily. However, if they do not realize it, the level of addiction can gradually increase day by day. Therefore, the person must first realize this situation.
As in substance addiction, after a certain point in relationship addiction, your expectations from the person gradually increase. This increasing process, called tolerance, can end with the other person giving up, saying I am not enough for you, and wanting to leave you. Relationship addiction, like other addictions, is a treatable condition.
How is relationship addiction treated?
In many addictions, medication may need to be used in a controlled manner, but the same process may not work in a relational addiction. Therefore, the person may need to undergo a psychotherapy process. This process helps the person to become self-aware and build healthy and connected relationships. Psychotherapy is the safe harbor of this journey of self-discovery. When a person with relationship addiction is taken into the treatment process, awareness gradually begins (i.e. the person accepts that they have a relationship addiction) After this process, treatment becomes easier. A personalized treatment and therapy program is applied.
