Love sickness
Encyclopedia
Being lovestruck is a non-medical term used to describe mental and physical symptoms associated with falling in love
: 'love-struck. It means to be hit by love...you are hit in your heart by the emotion of love'.
Historically, being lovestruck has been viewed as a short-lived mental illness
brought on by the intense changes associated with love. Avicenna
, a Persian
polymath
, viewed obsession
as the principal symptom and cause of love sickness. This diagnosis has been out of favor since the humoral model
was abandoned, and since the advent of modern scientific psychiatry
.
Alternately, there is Cupid's arrow; whilst Uncle Toby uses an image from musketry: 'I am in love with Mrs Wadman, quoth my uncle Toby - She has left a ball here - added my uncle Toby - pointing to his breast'.
. As early as 1915, Freud asked rhetorically, 'Isn't what we mean by "falling in love" a kind of sickness and craziness, an illusion, a blindness to what the loved person is really like'? Half a century later, in 1971, Hans Loewald
took up the theme, comparing being in analysis 'to the passions and conflicts stirred up anew in the state of being in love which, from the point of view of the ordinary order and emotional tenor and discipline of life, feels like an illness, with all its deliciousness and pain'.
Being lovestruck only occurs when a person has fallen in love, not when a crush emerges. However it may develop into love. 'For love-struck victims, the world appears altered. Replacing the flatness of ordinary experience is a fullness'.
According to Tallis, some of the symptom clusters shared with being lovestruck include:
More substantively, the estimated serotonin
levels of people falling in love were observed to drop to levels found in patients with OCD. Brain scan investigations of individuals who professed to be "truly, madly, deeply" in love showed activity in several structures in common with in the neuroanatomy
of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), for example the anterior cingulate cortex
and caudate nucleus
.
They would suggest however that '"disordered love"...can be understood more clearly in terms of attachment theory
'.
Falling in love
In romantic relationships, "falling in love" is mainly a Western term used to describe the process of moving from a feeling of neutrality towards a person to one of love...
: 'love-struck. It means to be hit by love...you are hit in your heart by the emotion of love'.
Historically, being lovestruck has been viewed as a short-lived mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
brought on by the intense changes associated with love. Avicenna
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
, a Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
, viewed obsession
Obsessive love
Obsessive love is a state in which one person feels an overwhelming obsessive desire to possess another person toward whom they feel a strong sexual attraction, with an inability to accept failure or rejection...
as the principal symptom and cause of love sickness. This diagnosis has been out of favor since the humoral model
Four humours
Four Temperaments is a theory of proto-psychology that stems from the ancient medical concept of humorism and suggests that four bodily fluids affect human personality traits and behaviors.- History and development :...
was abandoned, and since the advent of modern scientific psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
.
Metaphors
The term is associated with a set of metaphors attempting to convey the speed and intensity of the (mainly visual) process of 'falling in love instantly; placing great importance on the moment of being love-struck'. Thus for example it has been described as 'like struck with a lightning bolt. The second that you see and meet the person, you are instantly in love'.Alternately, there is Cupid's arrow; whilst Uncle Toby uses an image from musketry: 'I am in love with Mrs Wadman, quoth my uncle Toby - She has left a ball here - added my uncle Toby - pointing to his breast'.
Psychoanalysis
The twentieth-century saw the concept of love-sickness reconceptualised by psychoanalysisPsychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
. As early as 1915, Freud asked rhetorically, 'Isn't what we mean by "falling in love" a kind of sickness and craziness, an illusion, a blindness to what the loved person is really like'? Half a century later, in 1971, Hans Loewald
Hans Loewald
Hans Loewald was a psychoanalyst and theorist, born in Colmar, then Germany. His father, who died shortly after his birth, was a Jewish physician with an interest in dermatology and psychiatry, his mother a gifted musician, who played the piano. He studied philosophy with Martin Heidegger, who...
took up the theme, comparing being in analysis 'to the passions and conflicts stirred up anew in the state of being in love which, from the point of view of the ordinary order and emotional tenor and discipline of life, feels like an illness, with all its deliciousness and pain'.
Symptoms
A 2005 article by Frank Tallis suggested that being lovestruck be taken more seriously by professionals.Being lovestruck only occurs when a person has fallen in love, not when a crush emerges. However it may develop into love. 'For love-struck victims, the world appears altered. Replacing the flatness of ordinary experience is a fullness'.
According to Tallis, some of the symptom clusters shared with being lovestruck include:
- maniaManiaMania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...
or hypomaniaHypomaniaHypomania is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood, as well as thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such a mood state...
– abnormally elevated mood, inflated self esteem, extravagant gift giving - depressionDepression (mood)Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
– tearfulness, insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
, loss of concentration - anorexiaAnorexia (symptom)Anorexia is the decreased sensation of appetite...
- lack of appetite - stressStress (biology)Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
- high blood pressure, pain in chest and heart, acute insomnia; sometimes brought on by a "crushPuppy lovePuppy love is an informal term for feelings of love or infatuation felt by young people during childhood and adolescence, so-called for its resemblance to the adoring, worshipful affection that may be felt by a puppy. 'Simple infatuation is often called a "crush" or "puppy love"...
" - obsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
– preoccupation and hoardingCompulsive hoardingCompulsive hoarding is the acquisition of possessions in excess of socially normative amounts, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary...
valueless but superstitiously resonant items - psychologically created physical symptoms, such as upset stomachButterflies in the stomachButterflies in the stomach is a phenomenon characterized by the physical sensation of a "fluttery" feeling in the stomach. This sensation can be a physical sensation related to the body's fight or flight response or it can be an ineffable experience related to the psychology of love or nervousness...
, change in appetite, insomnia, dizziness, and confusion.
More substantively, the estimated serotonin
Serotonin
Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...
levels of people falling in love were observed to drop to levels found in patients with OCD. Brain scan investigations of individuals who professed to be "truly, madly, deeply" in love showed activity in several structures in common with in the neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defined nervous systems, and thus we can begin to speak of...
of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), for example the anterior cingulate cortex
Anterior cingulate cortex
The anterior cingulate cortex is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex, that resembles a "collar" form around the corpus callosum, the fibrous bundle that relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain...
and caudate nucleus
Caudate nucleus
The caudate nucleus is a nucleus located within the basal ganglia of the brains of many animal species. The caudate nucleus is an important part of the brain's learning and memory system.-Anatomy:...
.
Criticism
Some who would 'disagree with Frank Tallis's fundamental thesis that love should be seen as a mental illness...concur that at the extreme and under certain circumstances love sickness can drive a person to despair'.They would suggest however that '"disordered love"...can be understood more clearly in terms of attachment theory
Attachment theory
Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. Attachment theory is an interdisciplinary study...
'.
Literary examples
- 'Romeo so fits the archetype of love-struck youth that he has become the very model of CupidCupidIn Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
himself'.
- In Possession, the hero's ex quotes Robert GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
to her new lover - '"Oh Love, be fed by apples while you may"' - echoing the Song of SolomonSong of SolomonThe Song of Songs of Solomon, commonly referred to as Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible—one of the megillot —found in the last section of the Tanakh, known as the Ketuvim...
, 'comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love'.
See also
Further Reading
- Frank Tallis, Love Sick: Love as a Mental Illness (2005)