5 Stages Of Falling In Love According To Science

JAKARTA - Falling in love is a beautiful feeling but it is difficult to describe in words. The only way to know if you are in love or not is by experiencing it yourself.

Often people who are in love act silly and do things that are beyond common sense. But maybe that's the art of falling in love. You do weird things but it feels good.

Although difficult to explain, apparently science can formulate five common stages that occur when people fall in love. Here are the steps:

The first stage of falling in love is attraction and feeling hooked. When you meet someone, you can be attracted by how he talks, his voice, his physique, body language, personality, background, and even the conversations with him.

When you become interested, a part of the brain called the opioid receptor is activated. This brain reaction is similar to when the body receives the painkiller, morphine. Opioids are responsible for controlling feelings of liking or disliking something. So, it can be concluded that brain activity plays an important role in the process of falling in love.

At this stage, your interest becomes deeper and creates feelings of enthusiasm. You become more excited and tense at the same time. You'll start to find out who he is, nervous about being asked out on a date, and worried about whether he feels the same way as you.

When you feel this, your body triggers the production of the hormones dopamine, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. The hormone adrenaline usually appears when you are stressed. When you fall in love, you actually feel a variety of emotions that are fun but stressful. Not if you are often nauseous, stomachache, restless, even your heart beats faster when you think about him!

Entering the third phase, you will feel very happy when you meet him even just thinking about it. At this stage, blood circulation to the part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens becomes faster. The nucleus accumbens is the part of the brain that controls pleasure and reward. When it's thinking about him, the brain will read it as a form of pleasure and appreciation for yourself. His reaction was even like an addiction! The brain will receive various information about him that makes you happy and satisfied. Life in this phase is like just about him, how you are infatuated with him, and start doing silly things.

Do you realize that when you fall in love you are often obsessed with your crush or lover? This is because certain substances in the brain such as serotonin are reduced, especially in men. Low serotonin could be the reason why you become so obsessed. This is also what causes you to often ignore the negative traits of him and choose to only want to see the good things.

Over time, the body becomes accustomed to various changes in hormones, brain, and other body functions from the early stages of falling in love. When you enter this stage, you start to be 'normal' and more comfortable. Feelings of nervousness, panic, and stomach ache when you want to meet your partner have slowly disappeared. This is a good time to start committing.

Oxytocin and vasopressin are two important hormones that play a role in this stage. These two love hormones make the heart more peaceful when with a partner.