Crazy in love?
Well, if you're lucky, you've been there and done that and you love it! If not, you're one of the nay-sayers and today is probably the worst day of the year for you. You'll want to gag at the commercialism and all the over-zealous public displays of affection of those love-stricken fools. But, hey, be nice, it's not their fault - they're just a lil' bit crazy! No, seriously. Like Rosalind pointed out “Love is a madness” - and when you’re in love, the intense sensations you experience are enough to drive you mad. Ok, this isn’t just me trying to rationalize craziness – research has shown that the serotonin levels in couples who'd been madly in love for less than six months were equivalent to the low serotonin levels found in sufferers of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Psychologists state that “Phase Two” most closely mimics the symptoms of mental illness. What’s Phase Two, you ask? According to anthropologist Helen Fisher, there are 3 phases of falling love and each one is accompanied by notable chemical reactions in our bodies. Read on:Phase One – The Lust Phase is all-consuming and powerfully disorienting.
Signs & Symptoms: breathless, dizzy, and incapable of rational thought. You have the attention span of a severely afflicted ADD sufferer. Days and nights are filled with fantasizing about your new love and sending and receiving txt msgs from same.
Substances: pheromones guide you to an appropriate mate and the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen drive you to seek intimacy, while phenylethylamine (found in chocolate), keeps you wanting more.
Phase Two - This is the Attraction Phase.
Signs & Symptoms: sweaty palms, racing heartbeat. Suddenly nothing in this cruel world seems that bad. Loss of appetite, insomnia, infatuation, obsessive thoughts.
Substances: your body is now excreting all kinds of "monoamines." - namely dopamine and norepinephrine which combine to produce a sense of elation, energy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite -- (behaviour like that of someone under the influence of illicit drugs). Meanwhile, serotonin, ensures that you can think of nothing else and adrenalin keeps the poison coursing through your veins.
Phase Three - This is when the bond solidifies and is known to sex researchers as the Attachment Phase. (Ha!)
Signs & Symptoms: you settle into your romantic niche and experience separation anxiety, an intense bond and sense of togetherness. You make those around you gag with your lovey-dovey antics.
Substances: oxytocin and vasopressin. Oxytocin is the cuddler released during orgasm is also the chemical that bonds mothers to newborns. Vasopressin makes you want to stay together.
Still not convinced? Watch the video explanation here.
Either way, don't forget to make sure that you let all your important people know that you love them (btw). Have a happy Valentine's Day and go ahead - get a little crazy!
posted by S.M. @ 11:05 am
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