Falling in love and different psychological disorders share important symptoms and are much closer than we think.
Tachycardia, shortness of breath, decreased hunger, obsessions, sudden changes in behavior, persistent worries. What psychological disorder is this? Or could it be infatuation?
Biochemically, romantic love and severe obsessive-compulsive disorder are no different. This was a discovery by the professor of psychiatry and director of the Laboratory of Psychopharmacology at the University of Pisa, Italy, Donatella Marazziti, who received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000.
“If only 3% of the population suffered from falling in love, it would be considered a mental disorder.”
Ana Moix, psychologist
Everyone falls in love at one point or the other in their life. What’s more, it is a socially accepted condition to which people aspire. The curious thing is that it is a psychological situation that gives us a state of excitement and fullness, despite meeting the symptoms mentioned above that could be typical of a mental disorder. Therefore, it is not identified with any medical condition.
In clinical reality, if we consult the reference manuals of psychiatry and psychology, we will not find falling in love as a disorder in itself, but its symptoms appear as clinical conditions. One of the key requirements to determine whether an impairment leads to a mental disorder is the presence of clinically significant discomfort and maladjustment in the social, work, personal and/or family sphere. Being “in love” with someone can use up a lot of our energy to the point of incapacitating us in certain situations. Or expressing unrequited love is afraid of giving rise to very intense suffering. Therefore, where is the limit from what is considered normal to what is significant? Undoubtedly, being in love involves a series of symptoms that, if they occurred in other situations, would suggest a psychological problem.
The main characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder is the presence of repeated and unwanted thoughts and actions, which are very difficult to control. Doesn’t the same thing happen to us when we are in love? Well yes. In fact, studies have shown that a person in love spends more than 85% of their total hours thinking about their loved one.
The emotional instability It is another distinctive feature of love. Being in love, we go from being excited and full of energy to being anxious and worried with exceptional ease. The fear of losing a loved one can be triggered by any unpleasantness, no matter how small, but which at that moment seems essential to us. Do you see any similarity in this behavior with that of an addict? This is because at a physiological level, it has been observed that dopamine processes produce the same effect as consuming cocaine. If we go further, this hopelessness that we feel when, for example, we go through an attack of jealousy or a breakup is totally comparable to withdrawal syndrome.
Finally, emotional dependence also plays a key role in the development of love. From the point of view of psychopathology, feelings of possession, fear of rejection or this need to be the center of attention in someone’s eyes is considered a mental disorder. But with falling in love there is an exception. In the romantic field, these characteristics are considered normal.
What do scientists conclude?
Many are betting on a necessary disorder, since it drives the mechanism of perpetuation of the species. Falling in love is considered the first step through sexual contact and maintains the life cycle thanks to the excitement and well-being it generates in us. Therefore, it is an accepted condition in our environment and even desirable.
What there is no doubt is that the romantic love It moves the world and inevitably generates a great diversity of changes in our behavior as well as our thoughts and emotions, in order to seek a facet of happiness. Therefore, let us not have doubts… Let’s be crazy and love each other!
