Romantic love is that amazing feeling you get in your body when you are with your partner. You feel complete. You feel safe and as though nothing in the world can go wrong.
It is one of the three types of love that we can experience.
What Causes Romantic Love?
Romantic love is caused by chemicals in your body. Neurobiologists discovered that the chemical phenylethlamine is released from the brain when a couple is together. This chemical acts in much the same way as amphetamine drugs would, producing feelings of elation, euphoria, passion and elation.
We often become addicted to our partner in the first few months of a new relationship (known as the honeymoon period) because we crave the exciting effects of phenylethlamine and can only experience them when we are together with them. That’s why initially many couples can spend hours or days together and not get bored of each other’s company.
Romantic Love And Infatuation
If you’ve ever had a crush on someone, then you’ve been in romantic love. Even if that person did not reciprocate the feelings, simply seeing or being near them is enough to trigger your brain into producing phenylethlamine. At puberty many children develop crushes on older boys or girls, even when they’ve never spoken to them!
The downside of infatuation is that you tend to overlook any obvious flaws that the person may have. You might say things like “But he’s perfect for me!” even when all your friends are pointing out how wrong he is for you.
The End of Romantic Love
Romantic love naturally comes to an end when our body gets accostomed to the high levels of phenylethlamine in our system. Eventually the effects are no longer as powerful and we begin seeing the our partner for who they really are, warts and all. At this stage couples either break up, or enter a deeper and more meaningful stage of their relationship.
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