Friday Fact 13 Feb 2009


Today's Fact is dedicated to my best friend Tiegan, who was the reason why Friday Facts even exist in the first place!

Did you know that being in love has a similar chemical effect on the brain as mental illness?

 

Most of you are probably going "duh", but there is a scientific explanation behind this:

For some, the ups and downs of love sickness may actually have diagnostic similarities with mental illness. People who find the feeling of love too intense may experience "love sickness" with feelings of anxiety, and can have symptoms of mania, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), inflated self esteem and depression.
[...]
More substantively, the estimated serotonin levels of people falling in love were observed to drop to levels found in patients with OCD. Further, in brain scan investigations, individuals who professed to be 'truly, deeply and madly' in love showed activity in several structures in common with in the neuroanatomy of OCD, for example the anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nucleus.


Happy Valentine's/Singles Awareness Day, you crazy kids!


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