After reading through the comments that you all gave me on my last post, I decided to pick a side.
In this post, I'm going to research why or how love is chemical. I used this link for my research.
"Falling in love is getting into a beautiful trap set up by nature, a natural occurrence we cannot fight." They say that it takes your mind between ninety seconds and four minutes to tell whether or not you are struck by love. In this article, it goes into detail the three "stages" of falling in love. The three stages are list, attraction, and attachment. There are some sub-groups within those three as well.
- Stage One: Lust
The initial Stage of getting involved with love
This feeling is backed up by the sexual hormones
Oestrogen and Testosterone are the hormones present in men and women that excites the feeling of lust - Stage Two: Attraction
This is the phase when the person starts to "feel" the love
Adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin play a role in attraction;
Adrenaline: You will experience stress responses, increase in adrenaline and cortisol, and an attitude reaction.
Dopamine: In a study, there obvserved a new couples brains. Both the male and the female had large spikes of neurotransmitter dopamine. That releases the feeling of pleasure.
After discovering that, they said both of the couples' minds were equally high as if they had taken cocaine or a similar drug.
When dopamine is released, you will feel a surge of energy, a decrease in hunger, needing less sleep, and better focus.
Serotonin: This chemical basically makes you think about your lover and nothing else. Men in a study in 2012 had lower levels, and women had higher levels. The people in this study said to have thought about that person 65% of the day. - Stage Three: Attachment
Scientists found two hormones that are invloved with attachment; oxytocin and vasopressin.
Oxytocin: the "cuddle hormone"This formulates the depth of love and attachment for your partner. It is released during sex, and the study shows that the more a couple opts for sex, the more substantial the bond of attachment is.
Vasopressin: Anti-diuretic. This is termed at the hormone to promote long-lasting relationships. In a study in 2012, Biological Psychology tested 37 couples. When vasopressin was present, they had less negative communication, more attachment, and greater support for each other.
Overall, there are studies that show certain hormones getting released without our knowledge. "Love is blind" because you never know when your brain will feel love.
Source: http://examinedexistence.com/why-we-fall-in-love-the-science-of-love/
Jillian,
ReplyDeleteI am very proud of your post! I am now more convinced of a chemical involvement in love. I can see your point clearly and easily with this piece of information. I though the attachment/ attraction hormones in sex was interesting. I mean, how complex do humans have to be? What else defines us during intimacy? I always thought women were prone to being emotional; the difference between the sexes has always fascinated me. Also, I liked that you began an introduction to how men and women love differently. By doing this, you took a neutral, non-sexist stance. After reading your post, I wonder how different love would be without these essential hormones? I would like to see the pros and cons of love. After all, love isn't always a pleasant thing.
Awesome job,
Madison
Hey Jillian, I really liked the last thing you said about how "love is blind" because it is still rather unpredictable. Your blog is really rather enjoyable to read and the information you post is fascinating. Reading about the different chemicals that are released during different stages of love is something I had never really thought about before. I thought it was surprising that women tend to think more about their lover than men do. I can't wait to see your finished findings about what you think love is. Is love chemical or is it too unpredictable to say? Great work so far.
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