Love can make anyone sigh and swoon. However, did you know that the chemical neurotransmitters that are released when you are in love are to blame for all the symptoms that you experience?
Scientists have learned that a combination of chemical neurotransmitters is functioning when we fall in love. According to Dr. Helen Fisher, leading love researcher at Rutgers University, when we are love sick we have a hard time sleeping due to too much dopamine and norepinephrine in our system. “This is why you have so much energy, why your face is flushed, and why you can walk till dawn and make love around the clock.”
Do you experience other symptoms of love such as not being able to think of anyone else other than your partner? These symptoms are due to dopamine, which gives you that obsessive focus where your mind can only focus on your partner. Other love sick people experience the symptom of being unable to eat. They tend to lose quite a bit of weight, which friends may wrongly attribute to the miracle of weight loss pills. During their period of infatuation however, studies have shown that the intense feelings tend to last anywhere between six months to two years. Psychologist Dorothy Tennov coined a term known as Limerence which is defined as an “…obsessive, intrusive, and all-consuming state where we justify letting work, friends, responsibilities — even ourselves — slide so we can satisfy our unquenchable thirst for our new partner.”
However, not all our lovesick symptoms can be blamed on our chemical neurotransmitters. According to Psychologists, a person takes 90 seconds to 4 minutes to determine whether a person is a suitable love interest based on the following qualities:
- 55% on their body language
- 38% through their tone and speed of their voice
- And 7% through what they say
