- What is infatuation?
- Characteristics and symptoms of falling in love
- Factors involved in falling in love
We explain what falling in love is and what effects it has on people. Characteristics and symptoms. Intervening factors.
What is infatuation?
Falling in love is an emotional state characterized by joy and the strong attraction of one person to another. This feeling is manifested in individuals in such a way that they feel that they can share all kinds of events in their lives.
Falling in love, from the biological and biochemical point of view, has its origin in the cerebral cortex, continuing its journey through the endocrine system and secreting dopamine, a hormone responsible for generating changes in the hypothalamus whose manifestation is purely physiological.
Being in love manifests itself in the communication of emotions and gestures, in a motor, sexual, instinctive, and intellectual way. These gestures that we talked about earlier are based on physical contact, such as looking at each other, talking, touching and caressing each other.
There are two types of crushes, the external and the internal. External infatuation consists of falling in love with what one appreciates with sight, that is, with the physical appearance of the other person. The internal infatuation arises when one feels this feeling for how the individual is inside, their feelings.
Characteristics and symptoms of falling in love
- Desire for physical contact. Strong desire for intimacy and physical contact with the person, be it a hug, a kiss, a caress and even desire for sexual relations.
- Desire for reciprocity. Strong desire that the other individual is also in love with the person. It is a desire for reciprocity.
- Fear of rejection They have a strong fear of being rejected by the other person.
- Lack of concentration. Concentration is lost and carelessness occurs in everyday situations.
- Regular thoughts about the other person. Intense thought regularly with the person you are in love with.
- Nerves and anxiety. In the presence of the subject, a person in love manifests nerves, racing heart, stuttering, and so on.
- Interest by the likes of the other person. Attraction to the same tastes that the other person has.
- Attention focused on the other person. Full attention of the person towards the other individual.
- Only see the positive in the other person. Observe only the positive characteristics of the subject and without admitting the negative characteristics.
According to researcher Yela, in an article published in 2002, a large number of scientists studying the society have managed to create various models of theories and hypothesis that explain and describe in detail falling in love.
In the first instance, the process of falling in love begins with a physical look at the person, different from the others. Second, the subject feels a strong personal attraction that is strongly present when it is suspected that the other person feels the same, is physically and personally attracted to the other subject, that is, the attraction is reciprocal.
Factors involved in falling in love
- Psychiatry. At least in the first stage of infatuation, this feeling is a chemical reaction. Our brain produces a substance called phenylethylamine, whose function is to secrete dopamine, giving our body effects similar to those of amphetamines, producing a state of joy, excitement and natural euphoria when having the presence of our lover.
- Genetics. It's in our genetics, like Humans (animals) we bear in mind the instinct of reproduction and the continuation of the species.
There are differences between being in love and loving the other person, Erich Fromm explains it to us in his book "The Art of Loving." Fromm, argues that when we fall in love, we are in love with the physical form of the person, dropping what separates us from others, which makes us not feel attracted to anyone else. By sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings with the chosen person, we feel that we have been able to make a connection with someone.
Now, this feeling that generates intense pleasure, even by changing the chemical composition of our body, produces substances called endorphins. This substance is responsible for constantly being in a good mood, with a radiant smile all day, happy and groggy. While we are in love, we feel that we are next to the most wonderful person in the world. universe, of the most perfect creation. Fromm argues that in reality, we begin to love when we stop being in love.
How is this possible? Loving takes time, you need to know the other person in depth, to know both the good and the bad, the defects and the virtues. Despite this, falling in love is a beautiful feeling, although the feeling only lasts early in a relationship. There are people who consider themselves addicted to falling in love. They start a relationship and at the end of the stage of infatuation and visualize defects, they end it.
When someone truly loves, they accept the other person as a whole, with their flaws and their faults. A person in love tries to make the other better, helping them overcome the negative aspects of their personality.