When your brain experiences romantic love, it activates that same areas that are engaged when you seek any kind of a reward, be it money, food, or drugs.
A study examined 17 people who had fallen madly in love. Participants had been in love an average of seven months. They were placed in an MRI machine and asked to look at photographs of their sweethearts.
The part of the brain most strongly engaged was the one associated with rewards and pleasure, the brain stem region known as the ventral segmental area. This part of the brain becomes active every time you want something.
This "reward" part of your brain sends signals of exhilaration when it feels that it is receiving the reciprocal love it desires. This implies that early-stage romantic love is a drive, one that is in fact stronger than the sex drive itself.
In good relationships, this early, obsessive stage of romantic love eventually transfers to a different level, called "attachment."
Once accepted as a natural state of mind for thousands of years, lovesickness is now regarded as a much more serious health condition. In fact, health experts believe lovesickness can kill and should be taken more seriously.
Experts explain that when people fall in love, they often feel destabilized or weak. More importantly, however, is that when the deep love one feels for another is not reciprocal it could lead to an act of suicide. For this reason, it is advised doctors be more aware of lovesickness as a possible diagnosis.
What is Lovesickness, Anyway?
Lovesickness is a condition that can place people in an extreme state of despair, hopelessness and physical exhaustion. In modern day terms, the symptoms of this sickness can include mania, such as:- Elevated mood
- Inflated self-esteem
- Depression, revealing itself as tearfulness and insomnia
Does love protect us? Does it provide emotional and physical well-being, and can a lack of love, heartbreak or heartache be a detriment to our health? Certainly. Even Mother Theresa said, shortly before her death, "loneliness and isolation in the West" was the most significant "disease" she had encountered during her lifetime. It is yet another wonder of the human body that intimacy can protect and heal us from disease. Unfortunately, the reverse also holds: a lack of intimacy can bring on any number of health problems.
When intimacy referring to the physical form and also to the emotional form that can occur between families, friends, spouses and even strangers. Studies have shown that when people feel loved or give love they:
- Live longer
- Feel happier
- Have better health
- Make more money
- Tend to have better cardiovascular health
- Are less prone to depression
Further, heartbreak is a very real thing. According to a study published in the the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, ending a relationship had a negative effect on both men and women’s mental health, and was particularly hard on women. And, this type of stress--the kind that occurs from emotional events--may be even worse for the physical body than stress from non-emotional events, even though they evoke the same types of responses.
Interestingly, another study, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, found that helping others, or so-called altruistic love, is associated with higher levels of mental health, above and beyond the benefits of receiving help. This means that lending an ear to your spouse, family or friend may have even better benefits for you than for the receiving person.
In another study, female heart patients facing severe stress from marriage or being in love or lovesickness difficulties were found to have three times the risk of heart attack as peers without such stresses, though the pressure women felt from work-related issues did not have the same effect.
Moreover, studies have shown that when people feel loved or give love they: live longer, feel happier, have better health, make more money and are less prone to depression.
Treating (Love-Induced) Stress
Stress is a key factor in any illness (lovesickness included) and it plays a major role in the health of nearly every patient. It can have negative effects on your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, among others.
To completely eliminate stress from your life is virtually impossible; yet, if you don't learn how to deal with stress in a healthy way, a new study shows your brain may actually "rewire itself," altering its connections in such a way so it affects the way the brain functions.
So what can you do about it?
LEARN ABOUT STRESSGain an understanding, and grasp the seriousness of the physiology of stress. This is important because most people do not “get” the stress/heart health connection. Bottom line: You CAN control how stress affects you. Take this sound out to see if stress is hurting your heart.
EAT A REPLENISHING DIETEat fresh organic foods to help replenish and rebalance your body. Fresh foods contain life-giving enzymes which actually get depleted as we age. (Depleted enzymes are linked to digestive problems, obesity, and chronic illness!) Eat fresh fruits and veggies, and a fresh green salad every day. You’ll notice a difference within a week in how you feel and look.
Tip: Instead of orange juice (which may be pasteurized thereby losing some nutrients and enzymes), squeeze fresh oranges for enzymes and nutrients, especially vitamin C, folic acid and potassium. Get a juicer and sip on fresh fruit and vegetable juices.
Drink green drinks with superfoods like chlorella, alfalfa, wheat grass and barley grass to feed cells and rebuild healthy energy. Bonus: Green foods help replenish your adrenal glands which have been depleted because of stress!
Eat mineral-rich foods like seaweeds, leafy greens, beans, nuts and seeds to help replenish depleted minerals like magnesium.
Drink plenty of pure water. Stress causes dehydration and dehydration can promote stress—an endless cycle. Staying hydrated is important for healthy brain function.
Sip green tea and peppermint tea throughout the day to ward off stress. To relax and encourage sleep, drink a cup of chamomile tea in the evening.
Healthy snacks only—fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, and whole grain crackers.
Tip: Start your day with a nibble of fresh parsley and boost serotonin—a “feel good” hormone.
Create a pleasant relaxing atmosphere for meals. Try to eat outside at work. Use mealtime for pleasant conversation and socialize with friends and family. Socialization works wonders for stress, especially for women.
Stay away from processed foods, alcohol, caffeine and salt and sugar.
MANAGE AND CONTROL YOUR STRESS
Incorporate proven stress-reducing meditative therapies. Note: You don’t have to wait until you think you are having a stress event. These techniques not only help repair damage done over the years, they also help set you up so you are better able to handle stress.
Practice meditation: Recent studies confirm the fact that Transcendental Meditation not only relieves stress, it also promotes a healthy heart and cardiovascular system, and reduces high blood pressure. Just 20 minutes a day can change your life, for the better.
Practice stress management techniques: The Institute of HeartMath® has developed a system for stress management which provides immediate relief from tension, worry and frustration. Try the Appreciation Break several times a day.
Practice deep breathing exercises: Deep breathing reduces stress, relaxes and even helps you sleep better at night. Bonus: Healthier lungs.
Walk briskly for a half-hour outside every day.
Start your day with a quick stretch and warm-up. A 10-20 minute rejuvenation routine wakes up your lungs, glands, brain and heart, plus boosts the hormone production of serotonin (feel good) and dopamine (focus).
Tip: Be sure to stretch in the morning. Stretch your toes, which helps break up and release toxins as well as boost circulation.
Go outside during short breaks. Raining? Wear your raincoat and take an umbrella. Cold or snowing? Bundle up and get invigorated. Hot? Stay in the shade.
Dance. Put on your favorite music and go for it. Ten minutes will get you to a higher state!Tip: Take some time off and get yourself into natural surroundings—into the woods, by the water, fields, mountains, etc., for the benefit of fresh air and sunshine! Even just an afternoon can refresh you for days.
The key is not to eliminate the stress itself but rather adjust your body's ability to tolerate it. Aromatherapy and other energy psychology therapy, can be very useful to battle the dual effects of stress and depression -- even when coping with lovesickness
Research studies and treatments aside, most people would agree that giving and feeling love is sure to lead to a happier existence. Of course, that's great to hear for those who are surrounded by love.
Emotions play a major role in your health, and if you are in an unhappy relationship it will undoubtedly impact not only your state of mind but also your physical wellness. This article offers some great principles to strengthen just about any relationship.One of the best things you can do for all of your relationships, whether with a spouse, friend or family, is to be happy yourself. Your state of mind can be contagious, so tending to your own emotional needs will make it easier for you to feel happy with those around you.
Did you know that what we focus on expands? What do you want to expand in your life? Try to look at obstacles as only bumps in the road. Focus on the positive aspects of your life. Stay away from people or situations that bring you down. Make conscious choices to put yourself in environments that are stimulating and nurturing. Make the best of situations. For example: Stuck in traffic? Look at it as a gift of free time. Listen to music you’ve been missing, or learn from books or courses on tape.
Tip: Sing often.
Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. It is believed that the sleep you get before midnight is better quality, so get to bed by 9 or 10.
Drink a cup of chamomile tea with dinner
Create a peaceful sleep space that is completely dark. This induces the production of the lovely sleep hormone, melatonin.
Listen to relaxing music before bed
Take a calming bath. Turn on relaxing music. Light candles. Drop in 5 drops of organic lavender essential oil.USE AROMATHERAPY
One of the fastest ways to affect mood is through the sense of smell. Organic essential oils are potent therapies for reducing stress, encouraging focus, lessening depression, and building energy.
Relaxation: Lavender, chamomile, rosewood and clary sage.
Focus and concentration: Rosemary, thyme, peppermint and sage.
Alertness: Peppermint, juniper, and bergamot.
Creativity: Frankincense, rose germanium, rosemary and sandalwood.
Tip: If you can’t use a diffuser at work, put a few drops on a tissue or hanky and inhale when needed. Note: Pregnant women or those with health concerns should discuss using essential oils with an aromatherapist before using. Do not use essential oils directly on your skin without diluting in a carrier oil such as olive or almond, and only use a few drops.
Gain an understanding, and grasp the seriousness of the physiology of stress. This is important because most people do not “get” the stress/heart health connection. Bottom line: You CAN control how stress affects you.
For those who may be struggling with a relationship or are facing any type of love difficulty today, here to leave you with some wise words from the famous English poet Alfred Tennyson:
"It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
Divan-i-Shams 11909
A lifetime without Love is of no account
Love is the Water of Life
Drink it down with heart and soul!
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