New love can leave you feeling like you\u2019re on top of the world. For the most part, the physical effects of a relationship are good. The neurophysiological benefits can include lowered blood pressure, decreased stress, pain relief and even improved cardiovascular health. But being \u201clovesick\u201d can also bring with it some negative effects on the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes referred to as \u201cthe love hormone,\u201d oxytocin is released during touch or sex. It\u2019s been shown to lower anxiety and stress, but oxytocin production only increases considerably after about a year into the relationship and afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the first year, it\u2019s the stress hormone cortisol that increases. One small study found that the first six months of a new relationship can actually appear stressful, based on the production of cortisol. But when the researchers retested the study participants one to two years later, their cortisol levels had returned to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what\u2019s the big deal about high cortisol levels? They can decrease your immunity, increase your chances of infection, impair brain function and reduce brain volume, and increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and hypertension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, while falling in love might feel great, it may actually be the long-term relationships that are better for you. Serial daters (those who jump from one six-month relationship to another) may have more health risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the reason we feel so \u201chigh\u201d when we\u2019re in a new, intense relationship is that love triggers the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. It\u2019s the same hormone that\u2019s released when we engage in other pleasurable activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one small study, researchers used MRIs to look at the brains of participants while they were shown photos of previous lovers who had rejected them. The areas of the brain associated with cocaine addiction showed lots of activity. It explains why people who are rejected by a lover may display similar feelings to someone craving cocaine: mood swings, compulsion, risk-taking, loss of self-control, emotional dependence, distortion of reality and personality changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New love can leave you feeling like you\u2019re on top of the world. For the most part, the physical effects of a relationship are good. The neurophysiological benefits can include lowered blood pressure, decreased stress, pain relief and even improved cardiovascular health. But being \u201clovesick\u201d can also bring with it some negative effects on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[682],"tags":[725,961,727],"class_list":["post-13367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dating","tag-dating","tag-love","tag-relationships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthymale.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}