The Chemistry of Love!

Love in one form or another is the ruling element in life. It is the great instrument of nature, the bond and cement of society, the spirit and spring of the universe. The word "love" is a General and broad term used to describe various degrees of attraction, beginning with a strong predilection or liking for anything all the way to the top, being the sense of oneness with god and his creations.

Among the various forms of love, there is the warm personal attachment we have for friends and neighbours; also the deep affection which we have for one another, such as the relationship between parent and child, brother and sister, and the affection which exists between other relatives. We also find love existing as a strong liking for anything such as our love for a hobby, a sport, reading or even work you are passionate about.

However, as mystical and magical love seems, Science almost always has an answer to how everything works, and love is no exception to that trend. It is about a decade ago when a team of scientists were able to unveil the actual formula of chemicals in our body which cause us to feel what we call "love"!

Yes. There is an actual chemical equation for love!

C8H11NO2+C10H12N2O+C43H66N12O12S2 or better known as “love”, is simply a combination of the 3 most known pleasure hormones to man! (Dopamine + Serotonin + Oxytocin)

Researches have shown that falling in love stimulates the same parts of the brain as cocaine does which means you can theoretically get high on love!

Can Love be Counted as a Drug?

Research has shown that falling in love stimulates the same part of the brain as an actual drug! The effects on the body after the use of an illegal drug such as cocaine, leads to huge surges in the brain’s level of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, causing feelings of euphoria. It seems that the initial stages of love are so powerful that they are even able to replicate a withdrawal and temporary “high”, mimicking the effects of lethal drugs. Scientists further speculate that “love” was the only kind of high people felt in the ancient times as they didn’t have cravings for other substances like how people do in our generation.

Research conducted by leading anthropologist and relationships specialist Helen Fisher, has shown that when you fall in love, serotonin lifts your confidence levels, nor-epinephrine boosts your energy and dopamine enhances feelings of pleasure.

In simple terms, falling in love makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.

In addition to stimulating these brain chemicals, what we would refer to as “crush” love, plays tricks on a part of the brain called the amygdala, which acts like the brain’s fear center. This is what causes anxiety and stress when you first have a crush on someone. The beginning stages of a relationship tap into your deepest insecurities because you never know how the person you’re chasing really looks and feels about you.

These stresses stimulate the amygdala, which then signals your adrenal glands to produce adrenaline, making your heart beat rapidly and give you the feeling of having “butterflies in your stomach”. Noradrenaline makes you sweat. Cortisol sends a wave of excess energy to your muscles. Sounds like the physical reaction to a drug, right?

Recovering after a breakup is like detoxing after drug use.

We’ve all been through a terribly painful breakup. It’s the worst form of mental torture, not being able to eat or sleep and just wanting to lock yourself in a cupboard and cry for hours on end. You then start yearning for the warmth and love of your ex just like how you would for a cup of coffee every morning.
Well, that’s because you haven’t just broken up with someone; you are literally detoxing from the feeling of “being in love”.

Fisher has also conducted studies on the effects in which breakups have on the brain through experiments in which she recruited college-aged men and women who were still freshly wounded from the recent end to their relationships. There was a point in the experiment where the participants were shown a photo of their exes and this resulted in parts of their brains associated with physical pain, distress and attachment lighting up in brain scans. Those are the same areas of the brain that are stimulated by drug dependency or when someone is going through a cold turkey detox.
And, just like someone suffering from drug addiction, people who are suffering through a breakup are prone to obsessions and reality distortions.

This study therefore also proves that going “cold turkey” to detoxify your body from the love of your ex is the best strategy in which all forms of communication should be cut off.

Since now we know that it is the work of “Love hormones” which results in the intense pleasure love makes use feel, here are a list of some “Love hormones” and the effects they have on us -

Adrenaline

The initial stages of falling for someone activates your stress response, increasing your blood levels of adrenalin and cortisol. This has the charming effect that when you unexpectedly bump into your new love, you start to sweat, your heart races and your mouth goes dry.

Dopamine

Helen Fisher asked newly ‘love struck’ couples to have their brains examined and discovered they have high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This chemical stimulates ‘desire and reward’ by triggering an intense rush of pleasure. It has the same effect on the brain as taking cocaine!

Serotonin

One of love's most important chemicals that may explain why when you’re falling in love, your new lover keeps popping into your thoughts.

The two major hormones involved in later stage of relationships are:

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is a powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm. It probably deepens the feelings of attachment and makes couples feel much closer to one another after they have had sex. The theory goes that the more sex a couple has, the deeper their bond becomes.

Oxytocin also seems to help cement the strong bond between mum and baby and is released during childbirth. It is also responsible for a mum’s breast automatically releasing milk at the mere sight or sound of her young baby.

A study conducted by assistant professor of psychologist Diane Witt, has showed that if you block the natural release of oxytocin in sheep and rats, they reject their own young. Conversely, injecting oxytocin into female rats who’ve never had sex, caused them to fawn over another female’s young, nuzzling the pups and protecting them as if they were their own.

Vasopressin

Vasopressin is another important hormone in the long-term commitment stage and is released after sex. Vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone) works with your kidneys to control thirst. Its potential role in long-term relationships was discovered when scientists looked at the prairie vole.

Love is a puzzling emotion to fathom and it is one which may be intoxicating at first, but when turned sour, can get just as dangerous and lethal as cocaine. Don’t let this stop you from falling in love though as I mentioned at the beginning, love is the most fundamental element needed in a humans life and it is one which is unfortunately lacking in society today.

“Life is a flower of which love is the honey” – Victor Hugo