We’ve all heard love is like a drug.
So does that mean heartbreak is like withdrawal?
Hello lovers, Lissette here for DNews.
If you’ve ever fallen in love, this also means you’ve probably experienced heartache.
Breakups are so painful that they can lead to feelings of loneliness, anger, and even
clinical depression.
And they affect more than just your feelings.
We’ve already done an episode on how heartbreak literally hurts your heart.
And you probably also know that emotional pain, especially with rejection, can activate
the same neurological regions as physical pain.
Yep.
To your brain, getting accidentally hit by a rogue baseball on your shoulder is the same
as hearing, “It’s not you.
It’s me.”
So what is really happening in your brain when you’re experiencing heartbreak?
To really get a full grasp of this, we have to first look at what’s happening in the
brain when we ARE in love.
It’s not just one thing going on.
Turns out, there are many processes involved that together comprise a system of motivation,
reward, and addiction.
But, the two major chemicals involved are the neurotransmitters dopamine and oxytocin.
In one study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology, researchers looked at the brains of 17 people
experiencing intense romantic love at its early stages.
They showed them either photographs of their beloved or a neutral acquaintance.
And using fMRI technology, the researchers found that when looking at their loved one,
there was greater activation in areas that are dopamine rich - like the right ventral
tegmental area and the medial caudate nucleus.
Interestingly, other studies have shown that the ventral tegmental area also activates
when humans are under the effects of cocaine.
So, it’s not really just a metaphor when songwriters call love a drug and their lovers
an addiction.
Our brains literally get hooked on love.
So when we go through a breakup, it can look a lot like withdrawal.
Even though we know it’s bad for us to go stalk our exes’ photos on social media we
end up doing it anyway, because our brains are seeking the reward of all the feel-good
chemicals associated with our ex.
What’s more, studies have shown that when deeply in love we include our partners in
our concept of ourselves; One study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective
Neuroscience found that in long-term loving partnerships, several of the same brain areas
associated with maternal love and bonding are activated - so when we lose our partners
it’s like we are losing a part of our identity - we’re being torn apart.
All of this helps explain the deep sense of loss and emptiness after a breakup.
In fact, a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that the brains
of people going through heartache looked a lot like the brains of those who were grieving.
In another study, researchers at Rutgers, Einstein Medicine and Stony Brook, teamed
up and found that when they looked at photos of their exes, the brains of the brokenhearted
had high activation in the ventral tegmental area, ventral striatum, prefrontal cortex,
and cingulate gyrus, which are areas related to “gains and losses, craving and emotion
regulation”.
What’s interesting is that there was some overlap in the brains of those who were happily
in love and those who were dumped - particularly in the ventral tegmental area.
Basically, regardless of whether your crush is making you miserable or blissful, your
brain still craves and seeks them - much like a drug.
So when you can’t have them, like because they broke up with you, it feels awful.
But the good news is that just like a drug, you can drop it and recover from it.
Which is good to know since, many scientists argue that we are evolutionarily adapted to
fall in and out of love multiple times throughout our lives.
If you’ve fallen in and out of love, why not share with a website.
No domain extension will help you tell your story like a DOT COM or DOT NET domain name.
And because you watch DNews, you can get 15% off Domain Dot Com’s names and web hosting
by using the code DNews when you check out.
But, to learn more about the physical effects of heartache, check out this video on how
you can literally die from a broken heart.
If you’ve ever dealt with a break up, what did you find helped?
Some studies show social support can be great.
Share your thoughts in the comments and remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode
of DNews.
Thanks for watching.