Emotional Addiction Does Not Only Happen In Romantic Relationships

People usually talk about emotional dependence in connection with marriage or love affairs.

In this context, it is a complex psychological condition that makes it impossible for a person to end a harmful relationship. Although they are aware of the problem, they are not able to cut ties with the person because they believe that the relationship does more good than harm.

It is an unhealthy relationship that seriously affects the addict’s self-esteem. They idealize their partner and are incredibly afraid of being alone.

If the relationship ends, they would experience withdrawal symptoms. Like a real addiction, they create an unbalanced and destructive relationship.

But emotional dependence does not just happen in romantic relationships. In fact, there are two other types that we want to talk about today.

Emotional addiction does not just happen in romantic relationships: what does it look like in a family?

Emotional dependence in the family occurs when one member shows an unhealthy attachment to another. Their behavior is obsessive and oppressive, and seems strange to the object of their addiction.

An example would be a parent who needs to control one of their children and know what is happening to them all the time.

They always call them and need to talk to them. Typical behaviors include expecting the worst and feeling the need to make sure your child is okay.

So what happens when the child wants more independence? Parents begin to play the victim, cry and use other manipulative techniques. They try not to lose the child who has become the center of their universe.

If none of this works, they call even more often and suffocate the relationship.

On the other hand, dependent children always need their parents’ opinions to feel safe. They can not do anything or make a decision without getting their parents’ approval first. Addicted children say no to certain opportunities because they are afraid to leave their parents.

It is not good to normalize unhealthy connection styles. Why? Well, as we have seen, these unbalanced, harmful conditions can have serious consequences.

In addition, many relationships continue like this because there is interdependence. The parents raise the child, the center of their lives, so that they feel insecure and want to be dependent on them.

Emotional addiction does not just happen in romantic relationships: a look at social relationships

People in this category need to be recognized by others in order to feel accepted. Maybe that’s why they  spend so much time worrying about other people’s problems and forgetting their own. They try to increase their self-esteem by using external sources.

This is how they get meaning out of life. They must be connected to others, be useful and sacrifice themselves so that others are happy, and thus they can make themselves happy. As we know, addicted people put their happiness in the hands of others.

In their social environment, emotionally dependent people are always concerned with making others happy. This keeps them from having a healthy level of confidence.

And they end up wasting a lot of energy, both physically and emotionally, by building relationships that only bring them disappointment.

They want not only exclusivity from their partner, family or friends, but a combination of all three. They know of no other way to connect with the people they love. Why do they behave like this? Because they think it means the other person cares about them.

But what about himself? Emotionally addicted people seek out people who are authoritative, manipulative and narcissistic. They are attracted to people who first project self-confidence, even if it later turns out to be false.

Emotional addiction is a difficult, unhappy lifestyle. And emotional addiction does not just happen in romantic relationships. Therefore, it is important to detect it early and end it. There are many reasons why a person may develop emotional addiction, and it is often confused with true love.

Pay attention to the danger signs. Idealizing and prioritizing other people over yourself will take you away from the most important type of love that exists, the type that would put an end to emotional dependence: self-love.