Dictionary Definition
lovesickness n : a pining for a loved one
Extensive Definition
Love sickness is a non-medical term used to
describe mental and physical symptoms associated with falling in
love.
Historically, lovesickness has been viewed as a
mental
illness brought on by the intense changes associated with love.
Ibn Sena,
a 10th century Muslim physician recognized as an early father of
modern medicine, viewed obsession as the principal
symptom and cause of love sickness. This diagnosis has been out of
favor since the humoral
model has been abandoned, and since the advent of modern
scientific psychiatry.
However the concept of being "madly" in love is
not simply a poetic notion. For some, the ups and downs of love
sickness may actually have diagnostic similarities with mental
illness. People who find the feeling of love too intense may
experience "love sickness" with feelings of anxiety, and can have symptoms
of mania,
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), inflated self esteem
and depression.
A study in The Psychologist, the official
publication for the
British Psychological Society, concluded that love sickness
should be taken more seriously by professionals. According to the
author of the study, Frank Tallis, "Many people are referred for
help who cannot cope with the intensity of love, have been
destabilised by falling in love, or suffer on account of their love
being unrequited."
http://www.bps.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/releases$/the-psychologist$/love.cfm
Some of the symptom clusters shared with love
sickness include:
- mania – abnormally elevated mood, inflated self esteem, extravagant gift giving
- depression – tearfulness, insomnia, loss of concentration
- OCD – preoccupation, constantly checking (e.g. text messages/emails, etc.), and hoarding valueless but superstitiously resonant items
- psychologically created physical symptoms, such as upset stomach, change in appetite, insomnia, dizziness, and confusion.
More substantively, the estimated serotonin levels of people
falling in love were observed to drop to levels found in patients
with OCD (Marazitti et al., 1999). Further, in brain scan
investigations, individuals who professed to be ‘truly, deeply and
madly’ in love showed activity in several structures in common with
in the neuroanatomy
of OCD, for example the anterior
cingulate cortex and caudate
nucleus (Bartels & Zeki, 2000).
References
- Bartels, A. & Zeki, S. (2000). "The neural basis of romantic love." Neuroreport, 17, 3829–3834. PMID 11117499.
- Marazziti, D., Akiskal, H.S., Rossi, A. & Cassano, G.B. (1999). "Alteration of the platelet serotonin transporter in romantic love." Psychological Medicine, 29, 741–745. PMID 10405096.
lovesickness in Danish: Kærestesorger
lovesickness in German: Liebeskummer
lovesickness in Portuguese: Penas de
amor