NEXT UP! 2 198 Secondly, we feel attraction. Here things get a little more hormonally complex. Dopamine levels rise. Dopamine is the pleasure and reward trigger – the love drug! Meanwhile, serotonin ups our energy and reduces the need for sleep (especially in adolescents). It seems impossible to focus on anything else but the object of our attraction. Every thought is of that person. We are chemically distracted by our love. The racing heart when we see or think of our crush is caused by adrenaline, so that falling in love feels like ziplining across the Alps. Adrenaline also widens the capillaries close to the skin’s surface, which in turn makes your cheeks blush. Consider it the honesty hormone. There is no denying a blushing cheek. The third stage is attachment – long-lasting love. Oxytocin is the stick-it-out hormone, the “I’m going to take care of you forever” chemical. It affects parents with babies just as much as it does lovers. Oxytocin is so effective it not only makes us love with more strength, it can even give us more physical strength. This is the hormone that enables you to lift the car from your trapped loved-one’s body. It is the hormonal painkiller for the mind and body. It is worth remembering that in all the stages of love, the physiological changes we go through are beyond our control. It happens to everybody—or every body, we might say. Our amazing brains, and the chemical reactions that control us, allow us to experience that crazy, out-of-control feeling for another human being. So, sit back, relax and let the hormones do their thing. a reward – umbun a trigger – kveikja to up – auka distracted – truflaður the Alps – Alpafjöll a capillary – háræð a surface – yfirborð to widen – víkka attachment – tengsl stick-it-out – halda út trapped – fastur beyond – fyrir utan
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