Love And Its Fleeting Properties - 2722 Words

Love and Its Fleeting Properties Love has quite the reputation in today’s world. For all of time it has been a phenomenon that was once unexplained, and even now that science has some answers, it is often regarded as magic. A little girl watches countless movies about a princess and prince who fall in love and live happily ever after. She grows up with the core belief that she will have a similar fate. Some point in her life, she will find â€Å"the one† and everything will fall into place. No more searching. Boys are not exposed to the concept of love until later on, but nevertheless they come to the same conclusion: one meeting, fall in love, get married, endless happiness. People are convinced that love is real and it lasts forever. Does it,†¦show more content†¦The first stage is lust. Lust is the feeling one experiences when they see an attractive person who peaks their interest, and immediately becomes the object of their desire. The second stage is attraction. When someone is in this st age, the majority of their thoughts are consumed by the other person. This is what is considered to be â€Å"head over heels† for someone. The individual cannot sleep at night, and their appetite may even diminish. There are a group of monoamines, which are neurotransmitters that play a role. These chemicals are familiar to many people. The first is dopamine, the neurotransmitter that is also released when someone consumes caffeine or nicotine. Dopamine levels are also raised by the use of certain illegal substances, as well as alcohol. This surge of dopamine is what leads to addiction. When it comes to love, the higher levels of dopamine when one is falling in love with another person causes them to become â€Å"addicted† to that person and their affection. The second is norepinephrine aka adrenaline. When norepinephrine is released, the heart rate increases and sweating is induced. At the same time, it â€Å"which heightens attention, short-term memory, hyperactivity, sleeplessness and goal-oriented behavior. In other words, couples in this stage of love focus intently on the relationship and often on little else† (Howstuffworks.com). On top of the clouds with little else on their minds, the person in love