Symptoms of lovesickness

Symptoms

Usually the symptoms of love sickness are much like the symptoms of the flu or in certain cases they may resemble the symptoms of mental illness. An extensive list of symptoms may include insomnia, headache, mood swings, depression, inflated self esteem, weight loss, mania, loss of appetite, bouts of crying, delusion, thoughts of suicide, dizziness, deep gut pain, urgent sexual desire, elevated mood, high energy, melancholy, nausea, grief, digestive disorders, compulsive behavior, disorientation, malaise, daydreaming, lethargy, and excessive preoccupation with the loved one.

The Chemical Explanation

The process of falling in love involves a series of elaborate chemical changes in the person’s brain. The three chemical substances that provide that feeling of being in love are dopamine, phenylethylamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine provides the pleasure of love, phenylethylamine is the so called love drug, while norepinephrine’s main purpose is to boost the energy. The dopamine high encourages human beings to perform numerous different tasks that are needed for the survival.

The brain actually releases certain amounts of dopamine each time a human being drinks, eats or makes love. Phenylethylamine’s primary function is to enhance the flow of information that occurs between different nerve cells. It is an important part of that euphoric feeling associated with being in love. Norepinephrine’s main purpose is to efficiently stimulate the production of adrenaline.

The chemical cocktail that contains the aforementioned substances creates the sensation that human beings perceive as the high of love. Vasopressin and oxytocin are the two hormones responsible for the sensory image map of the loved person. Ventral pallidum is responsible for the addiction of love.

Early-stage romantic love can induce euphoria, is a cross-cultural phenomenon, and is possibly a developed form of a mammalian drive to pursue preferred mates. It has an important influence on social behaviors that have reproductive and genetic consequences. The study from 2005. had two predictions:

1) early stage, intense romantic love is associated with subcortical reward regions that are also dopamine-rich.
2) romantic love engages a motivation system involving neural systems associated with motivation to acquire a reward rather than romantic love being a particular emotion in its own right.

✓ Fact confirmed: Reward, Motivation, and Emotion Systems Associated With Early-Stage Intense Romantic Love Arthur Aron, Helen Fisher, Debra J. Mashek, Greg Strong, Haifang Li, and Lucy L. Brown; 01 JUL 2005

Tips and Treatment

The only thing that can efficiently cure love sickness is time. When a relationship ends, the body and the mind must experience grief, symptoms of withdrawal and finally, healing. The symptoms of love sickness usually disappear on their own when a relationship becomes a steady, long term thing. This happens because the brain gradually replaces phenylethylamine with endorphins which provide a person with a feeling of pleasure that is more stable in its nature.

The person gradually becomes resistant to dopamine and the addiction loses its initial intensity. Those who are lovesick need to eat lots of bread, honey and fruits in order to elevate the mood and regain the lost energy. Keeping busy and being creative also helps a lot. Crying may relieve the pressure and clear the mind. Self examination and learning are also two very important processes.