- **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= 

- **Side note :**

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.