Love has a strong impact on human health. It can cause a natural high and even improve your physical well-being, but the loss of it can also have detrimental effects.
How can love improve your health? "Love is a biological necessity that is as vital to a person's well-being as fresh water, food and exercise," Stephanie Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Oregon, said to National Geographic. Being in love releases hormones including oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine and serotonin. "When the love network is turned on, it activates the brain's reward centers, releasing a cascade of hormones, neurochemicals and natural opioids that make us feel joy and also help our body heal and our mind deal with pain," Cacioppo said.
Married couples tend to enjoy longer life spans, perhaps because of the "consistent social and emotional support, better adherence to medical care and having a partner who can hold you accountable to healthy lifestyle behaviors," said Time. "Married couples have lower rates of substance abuse, lower blood pressure and less depression than single peers."
How can a broken heart hurt your health? "We pay the price of having emotional responses when we lose our companions," Sue Carter, the emeritus director of The Kinsey Institute, said to National Geographic. Experiencing a heartbreak denies the body the feel-good hormones it was receiving regularly and increases the production of stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine.
Physical symptoms like depression, anxiety, loss of appetite, weight changes and trouble sleeping can all stem from grief. "When social bonds are broken by separation or loss of a partner, the nervous system needs time to re-equilibrate and adjust," said Carter.
Some people experience broken heart syndrome, a "heart condition brought on by extreme emotions," the Mayo Clinic said. It can even be fatal, as it causes short-term heart muscle failure. “One groundbreaking study of grief from the 1960s looked at 4,486 widowers in Britain," said Cacioppo. "During the first six months after they lost their spouses, they had a 40% higher risk of dying than a married person their own age." |