Can you sense love

As is well known, falling in love often leads to emotional and physiological instability. You bounce between exhilaration, euphoria, increased energy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, trembling, a racing heart and accelerated breathing, as well as anxiety, panic and feelings of despair when your relationship suffers even the smallest setback.

These mood swings parallel the behavior of drug addicts. And indeed, when in-love people are shown pictures of their loved ones, it fires up the same regions of the brain that activate when a drug addict takes a hit. Being in love, researchers say, is a form of addiction.

Going through some sort of adversity with another person tends to intensify romantic attraction. Central dopamine may be responsible for this reaction, too, because research shows that when a reward is delayed, dopamine-producing neurons in the mid-brain region become more productive. People who are in love report that they spend, on average, more than 85 percent of their waking hours musing over their "love object," according to Fisher.

Intrusive thinking, as this form of obsessive behavior is called, may result from decreased levels of central serotonin in the brain, a condition that has been associated with obsessive behavior previously. For what might be the first time, you have someone who gets you. Someone to bounce ideas off of, help you see things more clearly, and even provide unique insights of their own. The urge to share your entire life story all at once can be strong. You want to tell them about that one time your boss said that annoying thing.

You want to tell them about your hobbies, your favorite foods, your triumphs, your disappointments. And if your new love feels like you do, they may share your desire to overshare. And even if someone becomes less physically attractive over time. In short: lust is too little. Infatuation is too much.

Love is just right. While love requires feeling more than just lust or infatuation, love is also more than a feeling. During that stage, the moment you fall in love leads to emotional highs. As time goes on, you may develop a strong association between love and euphoria.

That conclusion relies on the presence of feelings alone, when love in fact has the power to weather emotional ups and downs.

Commit to the highs, the lows, the mundane, and all the rest with the person before you—because of who they are and who you both are together. If you choose to commit, remember: love is standing on your own two feet before you stand with someone else.

Ever met someone who understood you before you even asked to be understood? And to have that brain connection makes you feel warm, relieved, and at home. It refers to shared values, or a similar way of viewing the world. It can even refer to a similar way of thinking or making decisions—even when you view the world differently. And you have the same power over them. There are plenty of reasons to be selfish—not all of which are bad.

You feel sadness when the world knocks them down. You feel joy when they flourish. You just want your partner to be happy. It becomes less about what you can get, and more about what you can give. When both you and your partner feel this way, the relationship flourishes. You make each other a priority. Even just sitting on the couch and chatting can be a good time. You can tease and play. While it's possible, and even incredibly easy, to experience a "love at first sight" connection, true love looks and feels a little different from the warm feelings we usually associate with falling in love.

Here's what true love is all about, plus 10 signs you're in it. It's important to clarify that everyone experiences and expresses love in their own unique way. However, with that in mind, clinical psychologist Bobbi Wegner, Psy. The attachment stage is key for long-term love, Wegner adds.

Attachment is about feeling deeply connected to someone more than your physical lust and attraction. Licensed marriage and family therapist Linda Carroll M. A couple must go through deep interpersonal connection but also doubts, disillusionment, and ultimately a decision about whether to stick it out, all before experiencing true, wholehearted love.

Notably, both experts note the idea of one soul mate seems to be a wash: "I think you can make a choice to spend your life with another person," Carroll tells mbg, but "I think there's more than one right person—I think there are many kinds of soul mates.

It's important to recognize the difference between lust and love. While lust is one stage on the way to love, you're going to need more than physical attraction to make it last. In time, the deeper you get to know them and the more you bond, the more you'll grow to care for who they really are—and the more they'll care for who you really are, too.

If anything, risk is what makes it exciting. Love pushes you to open yourself up completely to another person, to really be seen and understood. And in spite of the possibility of heartbreak, we do it anyway. Love is a huge risk, but it seems to be the one we're all willing to take. Eventually, as the honeymoon phase dissipates and you and your partner really begin to see who the other is, there's a sense of calm familiarity.

You feel grounded and content in their presence. This is partly due to the hormones released during the attachment phase that facilitate bonding, oxytocin and vasopressin. Love doesn't always have "good reasons," which is where the idea of unconditional love comes from. As holistic psychiatrist Ellen Vora, Ph. It doesn't always feel easy or even necessarily positive, but it always feels like I'm right where I need to be.

Your partner shouldn't "complete" you; in fact, feeling that way is a good sign that you're more in the infatuation phase than true love. Love happens between two whole people, which is why Carroll refers to it as "wholehearted love. Ever feel unsure as to whether your date is actually paying attention to your words? So if it seems your partner is able to focus exclusively on you and not get overly distracted by other stimuli, it's a good sign.

Eye contact is so intense that researchers have even used it to trigger feelings of love. So, if your partner is looking deeply and comfortably into your eyes, it communicates a lot about their desire. You may catch this gesture or lack thereof while standing, sitting, or after a tense discussion about your relationship.