Love Addict: Not a Love Story

What happens when "so-called" love becomes an obsession, destructive addiction or fatal attraction? In Love Addict: Not a Love Story, six stories reveal what it’s like to be a "love addict" and the origins of this strange disorder.

Throughout history, human beings have fought, conquered, killed and been killed in the name of love. Songs, poems and books have been written in an attempt to capture that ultimate feeling of being in love. But what happens when that “high” takes over? Can you become addicted to love? This new documentary by Pernille Rose Grønkjær illustrates how romantic love can evolve into an all consuming obsession.

The initial intoxication of love is a well studied phenomenon. Someone in love might act crazy, behave irrationally or feel that they are totally obsessed with another person for a short period of time. But what determines a love addiction is whether the obsession continues and escalates. For the love addict the feeling of love becomes an absolute necessity for survival, like a drug addict, willing to do anything for a fix. The love addict builds up a fantasy around the person they are addicted to, and lives only through his or her actions. They are often emotionally fragile and afraid to be alone, but they can also be lying and manipulative.

A love addict lives in a vicious cycle – focusing only on the rush, not the relationship so they rarely have healthy or normal relationships because they are unable to escape the illusion that they have created. Ultimately, the addiction can lead to depression, anxiety and despair and in extreme cases, suicide or murder.

Director: Pernille Rose Grønkjær
Producer: Sigrid Helene Dyekjær