Every wondered why some people just can't shake their deadbeat partners? Well, it could be thanks to an unlikely addiction …to make-up sex.

That moment when a heated argument turns into passionate lovemaking might be as addictive as cocaine says Seth Meyers, a clinical psychologist based in Los Angeles, USA.

But while lovemaking might be what some couples resort to in times of strife, it won't do much to solve the actual problems they were fighting about in the first place, Meyers warns.

Most relationship counsellors would encourage make-up sex as a way to reconnect with your partner, but Meyers feels it will only make things worse.

He believes make-up sex only reinforces the need for emotional drama ahead of a good romp under the covers and is only a temporary fix for larger problems in a relationship.

"They hunger to switch gears and jump to the opposite end of the spectrum- to feel the high that comes with making up," Meyers writes in a blog entry for Psychology Today entitled Make-Up Sex Hurts: Why and How to Avoid it.

"Honestly, it's not that different from an addict who needs a hit of cocaine."

But what of the need to spice up your sex life? Sex therapist Jennifer Berman of California says that make-up sex can offer just the tonic. Berman believes that during tough times in a relationship, this kind of sex offers a way to be intimate and stay connected with your partner.

Meyers isn't convinced that this type of intimacy is real and that there's no better way to deal with problems in a relationship than by talking them through.

"Should you find yourself in the middle of a sexual encounter and suddenly realise that you feel confused, angry or sad, gently pull back and explain to your partner that you want to stop and try again later," he advises readers.  

"[C]ommunicating honestly and directly is the best way to keep the problem from snowballing."