Taking the point that there might be two forms of love addiction assumes that it is possible, as Robert Palmer once sang, to be addicted to love in the first place. Love addiction is not accepted by all neuroscientists or psychologists. Those who prescribe to the idea of ‘love addiction’ rationalize it as something genetic or behavioral, rather than a “disease.” The accepted theory runs that when a person falls in love their brain sees a rise in dopamine. When something happens to the associated feelings, such as a breakup, some people become conditioned to want to get back the associated feelings.
Dopamine plays several important roles in the brain and body, such as a major role in reward-motivated behavior. With this most types of rewards increase the level of dopamine in the brain, be that addictive drugs, or, it seems, being in love. The love connection has been set out in science papers, such as 2015’s “Imaging the passionate stage of romantic love by dopamine dynamics” (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience).
Except love might be a little more complicated than rises in dopamine, according to Brian Earp, from the Oxford University Centre for Neuroethics. Professor Earp has told New Scientist he has found evidence that there are in two different types of love addiction. This comes about following a review of 64 studies of love and addiction published between 1956 and 2016.
What the researchers discovered was:
Narrow view: Those people who feel desperately alone when not in a relationship, and try to replace an ex-partner straight away, have what is classed as a “narrow” form of love addiction. Such people struggle to ignore strong cravings to be near the presumed object of their affections. In extreme forms this could lead to impaired control and social impairment. Dopamine tends to flood the brain in these situations.
Broad view: The second type of love addiction is closer to ‘ normal love’, although there remains evidence of strong cravings, yet these are more controllable than with the first group.
How convincing this dichotomy is will be borne out through further research and debate. Meanwhile the research has been reported to the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology, in a paper titled “Addicted to love: What is love addiction and when should it be treated?”
