Author Topic: Are you a love addict? - quiz  (Read 1739 times)

movinon

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Are you a love addict? - quiz
« on: August 28, 2006, 02:34:34 PM »
This is from the official, international sight.  Lots of therapists are still not very knowledgable about it, but it is affecting MILLIONS of people across the U.S.

Please do not let the "sex" part of the questions scare you.  If needed, apply it only to the "romance" part.


Yes [ ] No [ ]   1.) Have you ever tried to control how much sex to have or how often you would see someone?
Yes [ ] No [ ]    2.) Do you find yourself unable to stop seeing a specific person even though you know that seeing this person is destructive to you?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   3.) Do you feel that you don't want anyone to know about your sexual or romantic activities?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   4.) Do you get "high" from sex and/or romance?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   5.) Have you had sex at inappropriate times, in inappropriate places, and/or with inappropriate people?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   6.) Do you make promises to yourself concerning your sexual or romantic behavior that you find you cannot follow?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   7.) Have you had or do you have sex with someone you don't (didn't) want to have sex with?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   8.) Do you believe that sex and/or a relationship will make your life bearable?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   9.) Have you ever felt that you had to have sex?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   10.) Do you believe that someone can "fix" you?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   11.) Do you keep a list, written or otherwise, of the number of partners you've had?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   12.) Do you feel desperation or uneasiness when you are away from your lover or sexual partner?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   13.) Have you lost count of the number of sexual partners you've had?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   14.) Do you feel desperate about your need for a lover, sexual fix, or future mate?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   15.) Have you or do you have sex regardless of the consequences (e.g.. the threat of being caught, the risk of contracting herpes,  gonorrhea, AIDS, etc.)?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   16.) Do you find that you have a pattern of repeating bad relationships?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   17.) Do you feel that your only (or major) value in a relationship is your ability to perform sexually, or provide an emotional fix?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   18.) Do you feel that you're not "really alive" unless you are with your sexual / romantic partner?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   19.) Do you feel entitled to sex?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   20.) Do you find yourself in a relationship that you cannot leave?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   21.) Have you ever threatened your financial stability or standing in the community by pursuing a sexual partner?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   22.) Do you believe that the problems in your "love life" result from continuing to remain with the "wrong" person?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   23.) Have you ever had a serious relationship threatened or destroyed because of outside sexual activity?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   24.) Do you feel that life would have no meaning without a love relationship or without sex?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   25.) Do you find yourself flirting or sexualizing with someone even if you do not mean to?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   26.) Does your sexual and/or romantic behavior affect your reputation?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   27.) Do you have sex and/or "relationships" to try to deal with, or escape from life's problems?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   28.) Do you feel uncomfortable about your masturbation because of the frequency with which you masturbate, the fantasies you engage in, the props you use, and/or the places in which you do it?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   29.) Do you engage in the practice of voyeurism, exhibitionism, etc. in ways that bring discomfort and pain?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   30.) Do you find yourself needing greater and greater variety and energy in your sexual or romantic activities just to achieve an "acceptable" level of physical and emotional relief?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   31.) Do you need to have sex, or "fall in love" in order to feel like a "real man" or a "real woman"?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   32.) Do you feel that your sexual and romantic behavior is about as rewarding as hijacking a revolving door?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   33.) Are you unable to concentrate on other areas of your life because of thoughts or feelings you are having about another person or about sex?
Yes [ ] No [ ]   34.) Do you find yourself obsessing about a specific person or sexual act even though these thoughts bring pain, craving or discomfort?
Yes [ ] No [ ]  35.) Have you ever wished you could stop or control your sexual and romantic activities for a given period of time?
Yes [ ] No [ ]  36.) Do you find the pain in your life increasing no matter what you do?
Yes [ ] No [ ]  37.) Do you feel that you lack dignity and wholeness?
Yes [ ] No [ ]  38.) Do you feel that your sexual and/or romantic life affects your spiritual life in a negative way?
Yes [ ] No [ ]  39.) Do you feel that your life is unmanageable because of your excessive dependency needs?
Yes [ ] No [ ] 40.) Have you ever thought that there might be more you could do with your life if you were not so driven by sexual and romantic pursuits?


http://www.slaafws.org/

Feel free to PM me if you need to.

blessings,
Movinon


An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

reallyME

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Re: Are you a love addict? - quiz
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2006, 06:07:43 PM »
We could debate this till the cows come home, but sex does not equal love, number 1...that is called LUST when done outside the bonds of matrimony, not love and not love addiction.  It might be a people addiction or sex addiction but addiction and the true meaning of the word LOVE do not EVER go together.  God is love

~Laura

movinon

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Re: Are you a love addict? - quiz
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2006, 08:33:40 PM »

Hi Laura -
Quote
sex does not equal love, number 1...that is called LUST
Amen sister!   I'm not really sure what you were getting at in the rest of your post, but I think you were referring to love and marriage.  A lot of people associate sex with love and intimacy with sex.  What I'm speaking about does not necessarily condone any sex outside of a committed relationship or not.  It's for a person to begin looking at their individual values - whether spiritual or not - and to cease melding into another person and taking on their values.


Jac - You're right.  Love addiction falls within the catagory of co-dependancy - it's a sub-set.  It's meant for those who go specifically from relationship to relationship and actively SEEK those things mentioned.  It's also a way to look at their behavior and search for thier part in the whole picture - whether it's sending out inappropriate energy, engaging in intrigue, or other more overt behaviors in relationship to gaining the attention of others.

You share some very insightful observations about romance and about yourself - WOW!

I started to address this issue in my life about 7 years ago and REALLY started to address it heavily over 3 years ago.  The need for male attention was very strong in me and I felt pretty let down when I couldn't "get" what I went after.  I'm working the program which includes in-depth step-by-step ACTIONS to look at MY side of the street and to learn to keep it clean.  It also included developing a network of WOMEN friends and learning that one person can not meet all of my needs.  I've also learned more about what a healthy partner looks like - dispelling all of those old tapes of what men are like in my head.

It's been an interesting, rewarding, and terribly painful process to rip my guts open and put them on display, but I'm starting to learn to trust and getting the knowledge of WHO I can trust.

For those who doubt whether this is a real addiction, see how many stories you can find about people killing themselves or their ex's over relationships gone bad.  Look at divorce statistics.  Turn on the TV and see the chaos in relationships.  I'm not saying they're all addicts, but...

If you still doubt, that's okay.  There are therapists out there who doubt the validity as well, just as there are therapists out there that doubt that alcoholism is a disease (that wasn't always as accepted as it is now either).

Take what you like and leave the rest.  If it doesn't fit for you, it may fit for someone else who needs to see this and know there's hope.

Movinon
An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

gratitude28

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Re: Are you a love addict? - quiz
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2006, 10:25:59 PM »
Gosh, I read those questions and am pretty sure I could have answere yes to all of them as an older teen/young adult. I totally thought the only way to make someone like you was to have them "want" you. And I thought that if someone wanted me, that meant he isn some way respected me.
I am not sure when I overcame this thinking. I know there was a point when I had been hit on by so many losers and married men and all that I decided I was done and wanted no more games. When I met my husband, he was very respectful and kind. And I think, for whatever reason, I was ready to accept that from a man.
What do you think makes you change the way you think???????
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable." Douglas Adams

movinon

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Re: Are you a love addict? - quiz
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2006, 09:17:48 AM »
Acceptance, HARD work,, humility, and willlingness to give up your will to a power greater than yourself.

Movinon
An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

Certain Hope

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Re: Are you a love addict? - quiz
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2006, 10:19:17 AM »
Acceptance, HARD work,, humility, and willlingness to give up your will to a power greater than yourself.

Well said, MovinOn, and thank you for this thread.

Failure went a long way toward changing my thinking. I had to accept that I couldn't create the ideal relationship simply by sheer force of will. The last time my ex-husband made sexual advances toward my oldest daughter, she was nearly 17 and a gorgeous young woman. This brought a whole new element of intimate/sexual betrayal into the mix which I couldn't even address within myself until much later, after we were permanently apart and he was no further threat to my children. I don't even know that I want to analyze it, but I'm aware that it left me in a sort of hyper-sexual, needy-of-validation condition which made me a perfect target for N. I seemed to move from one fairly tale to another until the message got through... I have to be complete within myself before I can be a part of a whole, complete relationship ~ romantic or otherwise. Can't be chameleon-like, blending into the other person and constantly being emptied, with no refilling except for the illiusion of some fantasy love.

Hope


Hopalong

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Re: Are you a love addict? - quiz
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2006, 02:37:59 PM »
Escape from Intimacy, by Anne Wilson Schaef (sp?) is about this issue.

Hope someone finds it helpful.

Hops
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."