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• Question

Is "Emotional Pain Addiction" a real phenomenon, a legitimate concept?

• Definition

Emotional pain can become an addiction. A negative feeling, such as anger, worry, grief, fear, or depression, can become so habitual that you cannot live without it. There are physical as well as mental reasons for emotional pain addiction. When a person is continuously stressed by emotional pain, there are subtle changes in the body that create a dependency on stress-related chemistry. Changing habitual patterns of pain can be as difficult as giving up an addictive substance, such as nicotine, alcohol, or even heroin. The emotional pain addict unconsciously seeks out situations that are sure to result in pain. A history of prolonged, negative, stressful relationships is usually symptomatic of emotional pain addiction. (http://www.thepositivemind.com/poetry/aboutpainanddullnessarticle.html)

• Context

We can find many informal discussions about "Emotional Pain Addiction" on Quora by non-experts, and also presentations by self-development coaches on their websites, but also some apparently more scientific stuff here and there, in particular explaining the functions of endorphins (e.g. [1], [2], [3] below):

[1] https://www.medicinenet.com/endorphins_natural_pain_and_stress_fighters/views.htm

[2] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/can-be-addicted-to-endorphins.htm

[3] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/endorphins.htm

• Problem

Yet, a simple query on Google Scholar gives you no scientific research outputs on "Emotional Pain Addiction":

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=fr&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22emotional+pain+addiction%22&btnG=

And the apparently more scientific stuff on "Emotional Pain Addiction" can be self-contradictory, because [2] says it is possible to be addicted to endorphins, while [3] says it is not possible to be addicted to endorphins.

Proposal for research

If the existence of this phenomenon is not supported by scientific evidence, do we yet have scientifically supported phenomena closed to this idea of living with/adapting to emotional pain: for instance, becoming emotionally numb, appraising emotional pain in certain positive ways (becoming self-indulgent instead of trying to get rid of it after many failed attempts to get rid of it), etc.?

We could follow this research protocol: have one group of (highly) neurotic people, one group of average emotionally stable people, one group of highly emotionally stable people.

Give these three groups a questionnaire asking whether they feel that emotional pain is addictive.

If we find a positive correlation between neuroticism and feelings of emotional pain addiction, but a negative or a zero correlation between emotional pain addiction and the other groups, then we could suppute that highly neurotic people tend to numb themselves to the recurrent experience of negative emotions via an impression of pleasure of experiencing emotional suffering.

• Question

Is "Emotional Pain Addiction" a real phenomenon, a legitimate concept?

• Definition

Emotional pain can become an addiction. A negative feeling, such as anger, worry, grief, fear, or depression, can become so habitual that you cannot live without it. There are physical as well as mental reasons for emotional pain addiction. When a person is continuously stressed by emotional pain, there are subtle changes in the body that create a dependency on stress-related chemistry. Changing habitual patterns of pain can be as difficult as giving up an addictive substance, such as nicotine, alcohol, or even heroin. The emotional pain addict unconsciously seeks out situations that are sure to result in pain. A history of prolonged, negative, stressful relationships is usually symptomatic of emotional pain addiction. (http://www.thepositivemind.com/poetry/aboutpainanddullnessarticle.html)

• Context

We can find many informal discussions about "Emotional Pain Addiction" on Quora by non-experts, and also presentations by self-development coaches on their websites, but also some apparently more scientific stuff here and there, in particular explaining the functions of endorphins (e.g. [1], [2], [3] below):

[1] https://www.medicinenet.com/endorphins_natural_pain_and_stress_fighters/views.htm

[2] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/can-be-addicted-to-endorphins.htm

[3] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/endorphins.htm

• Problem

Yet, a simple query on Google Scholar gives you no scientific research outputs on "Emotional Pain Addiction":

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=fr&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22emotional+pain+addiction%22&btnG=

And the apparently more scientific stuff on "Emotional Pain Addiction" can be self-contradictory, because [2] says it is possible to be addicted to endorphins, while [3] says it is not possible to be addicted to endorphins.

• Question

Is "Emotional Pain Addiction" a real phenomenon, a legitimate concept?

• Definition

Emotional pain can become an addiction. A negative feeling, such as anger, worry, grief, fear, or depression, can become so habitual that you cannot live without it. There are physical as well as mental reasons for emotional pain addiction. When a person is continuously stressed by emotional pain, there are subtle changes in the body that create a dependency on stress-related chemistry. Changing habitual patterns of pain can be as difficult as giving up an addictive substance, such as nicotine, alcohol, or even heroin. The emotional pain addict unconsciously seeks out situations that are sure to result in pain. A history of prolonged, negative, stressful relationships is usually symptomatic of emotional pain addiction. (http://www.thepositivemind.com/poetry/aboutpainanddullnessarticle.html)

• Context

We can find many informal discussions about "Emotional Pain Addiction" on Quora by non-experts, and also presentations by self-development coaches on their websites, but also some apparently more scientific stuff here and there, in particular explaining the functions of endorphins (e.g. 1, [2], [3] below):

1 https://www.medicinenet.com/endorphins_natural_pain_and_stress_fighters/views.htm

[2] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/can-be-addicted-to-endorphins.htm

[3] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/endorphins.htm

• Problem

Yet, a simple query on Google Scholar gives you no scientific research outputs on "Emotional Pain Addiction":

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=fr&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22emotional+pain+addiction%22&btnG=

And the apparently more scientific stuff on "Emotional Pain Addiction" can be self-contradictory, because [2] says it is possible to be addicted to endorphins, while [3] says it is not possible to be addicted to endorphins.

Proposal for research

If the existence of this phenomenon is not supported by scientific evidence, do we yet have scientifically supported phenomena closed to this idea of living with/adapting to emotional pain: for instance, becoming emotionally numb, appraising emotional pain in certain positive ways (becoming self-indulgent instead of trying to get rid of it after many failed attempts to get rid of it), etc.?

We could follow this research protocol: have one group of (highly) neurotic people, one group of average emotionally stable people, one group of highly emotionally stable people.

Give these three groups a questionnaire asking whether they feel that emotional pain is addictive.

If we find a positive correlation between neuroticism and feelings of emotional pain addiction, but a negative or a zero correlation between emotional pain addiction and the other groups, then we could suppute that highly neurotic people tend to numb themselves to the recurrent experience of negative emotions via an impression of pleasure of experiencing emotional suffering.

References:

Kun, B., Urbán, R., Bőthe, B., Griffiths, M. D., Demetrovics, Z., & Kökönyei, G. (2020). Maladaptive rumination mediates the relationship between self-esteem, perfectionism, and work addiction: A largescale survey study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(19), 7332.

• Question

Is "Emotional Pain Addiction" a real phenomenon, a legitimate concept?

• Definition

Emotional pain can become an addiction. A negative feeling, such as anger, worry, grief, fear, or depression, can become so habitual that you cannot live without it. There are physical as well as mental reasons for emotional pain addiction. When a person is continuously stressed by emotional pain, there are subtle changes in the body that create a dependency on stress-related chemistry. Changing habitual patterns of pain can be as difficult as giving up an addictive substance, such as nicotine, alcohol, or even heroin. The emotional pain addict unconsciously seeks out situations that are sure to result in pain. A history of prolonged, negative, stressful relationships is usually symptomatic of emotional pain addiction. (http://www.thepositivemind.com/poetry/aboutpainanddullnessarticle.html)

• Context

We can find many informal discussions about "Emotional Pain Addiction" on Quora by non-experts, and also presentations by self-development coaches on their websites, but also some apparently more scientific stuff here and there, in particular explaining the functions of endorphins (e.g. [1], [2], [3] below):

[1] https://www.medicinenet.com/endorphins_natural_pain_and_stress_fighters/views.htm

[2] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/can-be-addicted-to-endorphins.htm

[3] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/endorphins.htm

• Problem

Yet, a simple query on Google Scholar gives you no scientific research outputs on "Emotional Pain Addiction":

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=fr&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22emotional+pain+addiction%22&btnG=

And the apparently more scientific stuff on "Emotional Pain Addiction" can be self-contradictory, because [2] says it is possible to be addicted to endorphins, while [3] says it is not possible to be addicted to endorphins.

Proposal for research

If the existence of this phenomenon is not supported by scientific evidence, do we yet have scientifically supported phenomena closed to this idea of living with/adapting to emotional pain: for instance, becoming emotionally numb, appraising emotional pain in certain positive ways (becoming self-indulgent instead of trying to get rid of it after many failed attempts to get rid of it), etc.?

We could follow this research protocol: have one group of (highly) neurotic people, one group of average emotionally stable people, one group of highly emotionally stable people.

Give these three groups a questionnaire asking whether they feel that emotional pain is addictive.

If we find a positive correlation between neuroticism and feelings of emotional pain addiction, but a negative or a zero correlation between emotional pain addiction and the other groups, then we could suppute that highly neurotic people tend to numb themselves to the recurrent experience of negative emotions via an impression of pleasure of experiencing emotional suffering.

We can find many informal discussions about "Emotional Pain Addiction" on Quora by non-experts, and also presentations by self-development coaches on their websites, but also some apparently more scientific stuff here and there, in particular explaining the functions of endorphins (e.g. [1], [2], [3] below):

[1] https://www.medicinenet.com/endorphins_natural_pain_and_stress_fighters/views.htm

NB: It is also possible that what people on the Internet call "emotional pain addiction" is what research refers to as "rumination".

To what I have learned, researchers are aware that people like to ruminate while knowing it is not adaptive, but still did not investigate the reasons motivating this behavior.

We can find many informal discussions about "Emotional Pain Addiction" on Quora by non-experts, and also presentations by self-development coaches on their websites, but also some apparently more scientific stuff here and there, in particular explaining the functions of endorphins (e.g. 1, [2], [3] below):

1 https://www.medicinenet.com/endorphins_natural_pain_and_stress_fighters/views.htm

References:

Kun, B., Urbán, R., Bőthe, B., Griffiths, M. D., Demetrovics, Z., & Kökönyei, G. (2020). Maladaptive rumination mediates the relationship between self-esteem, perfectionism, and work addiction: A largescale survey study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(19), 7332.