Here’s What ‘Euphoria’ Gets Right About The Dangers Of Love Addiction

Spoilers: Seasons 1&2 of Euphoria

Euphoria probably seems like a standard teen drama to some, but it excels in one specific category: its depiction of addiction. While the show centers most notably on Rue and her struggle to get clean, it also touches on other non-substance-related addictions—including love addiction.

Love addiction is a “pattern of behavior characterized by maladaptive, pervasive and excessive interest towards one or more romantic partners, resulting in lack of control, the renounce of other interests and behavior, and other negative consequences.” Sound familiar? Enter Cassie Howard.

Cassie (portrayed by Sydney Sweeney) is perhaps best known for her relationships in the show. While her classmates judge her for her promiscuity, it’s clear that above all, Cassie values being in love—with McKay in season one and then Nate in season two. While Cassie likely sees herself as starry-eyed and ride-or-die, it’s clear to viewers (and her loved ones) that she’s spiraling.

It’s easy to judge Cassie, especially when she starts sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend—sorry, ex-boyfriend. She comes off as disloyal and two-faced, especially as she consoles Maddy over the breakup during the day and then spends the night with Nate. But taking a look back at what the character has been through, it becomes clearer that Cassie simply feels starved of love and will look for it anywhere—and at any cost.

Remember: Cassie grew up in a divided home where her parents fought constantly. Her father left their family and, after becoming addicted to opioids, used Cassie to steal the family’s valuables before disappearing from their lives completely. Her mother, on the other hand, grew emotionally unavailable and dependent on alcohol. She was also pressured into getting an abortion by her boyfriend—a decision she likely would have made on her own eventually but that traumatized her nonetheless.

All of that is to say this: Cassie has always felt lacking when it comes to love. It’s easy to call her selfish, manipulative, and unfaithful—because of course, in the moment, she is being all these things. But she is also someone who is struggling, who cannot seem to find her worth—or even the will to live—unless it is connected to someone else’s desire and approval. Worst of all, it isn’t just that she needs someone to love her, it’s that she will do anything to make sure they do.

Cassie knows her relationship with Nate is destructive. When he ignores her, she becomes depressed and loses interest in everything. When he chooses someone else, she becomes physically sick. And when he gives her even a morsel of attention, she sees every sacrifice as totally and completely worth it. As she tells Nate at the end of the episode A Thousand Little Trees Of Blood, “I ruined my entire life for you.” She’s angry and devastated, and yet she still moves in with him and changes her entire personality just to become what he wants. Just to become someone he could love.

And yet Cassie is still blind to—or maybe in denial about—how her addiction to love manifests in her life. She criticizes her sister Lexi for remaining friends with Rue despite how Rue’s addiction has made her treat Lexi badly, seemingly unaware of the hypocrisy in her statement—after all, due to her dependency on Nate, she hurt Maddy irreversibly. And yet when the truth came out, all she wanted was for Maddy and her loved ones to understand and try to forgive, the way Lexi has repeatedly forgiven Rue. By including that scene, it’s possible writer and creator Sam Levinson was nodding to the fact that, while Cassie’s struggles are entirely different from Rue’s and likely appear less pressing, it’s still its own form of addiction (after all, behavioral addictions, such as sex addiction and gambling addiction, can activate the same parts of the brain as drugs). And when under the influence of the wrong circumstances—such as attaching your worth to someone with a track record of manipulation and abuse—it can be just as dangerous.

There’s no saying exactly where Cassie’s storyline will lead us in the next few seasons. But it is likely that she’ll have to face the root of her love addiction—whether that has to do with mental illness, childhood trauma, or attachment issues—or she’ll hurt everyone around her—especially herself.