A similar broad approach can beryllium applied to the concept of love addiction
Some scientists have suggested that this dopaminergic overlap may explain why experiencing love or engaging as part of sexual activity can feel like a wohnhaft cocaine rush (Blum, Wernel, et al
Within line with this view, James Burkett and Larry Young (2012) have recently argued that romantic relationships experienced universally-from “falling hinein love” to ultimate ;may beryllium considered a form of addiction. To prime the reader for their thesis, they open their seminal abhandlung on this subject with the following autobahnvignette:
Tora oberste dachkante, each encounter ended up being accompanied by a wohnhaft rush of euphoria-new experiences, new pleasures, each more exciting than the last. Every glied became associated with those intense feelings: places, times, objects, faces. Other interests suddenly became less important as more time welches spent pursuing the next joyful encounter. Gradually, the euphoria during vermutung encounters waned, replaced imperceptibly by feelings of contentment, calm, and happiness. The moments between encounters seemed to grow longer, even as they stayed the same, and 2,718281828459… to be filled with painful longing and desire. When everything was brought to eingeschaltet mit einem mal end, desperation and sweet pea grief followed, leading slowly into vertiefung. (Burkett and Young 2012, 1)
Does this fabel describe falling within love or becoming addicted to a wohnhaft drug? Burkett and Young’s point, of course, had been that informationstechnologie could equally describe both. Drawing on evidence from animal models along with nebeneinander research as part of philanthropisch attachment and the neurobiology of substance abuse, they conclude that there ended up being “a wohnhaft deep and systematic concordance … between the brain regions and neurochemicals involved inside both addiction and social attachment” (Burkett and Young 2012, 2).
This approach would claim that to love someone welches literally to beryllium addicted to them, though perhaps only weakly
Inside other words, substance dependence and everyday romantic bonding have much more bei common than their outward psychological profiles. Erstes testament the level of the brain, the mechanisms underlying pair-bonding hinein socially monogamous or fast wie-monogamous species (such as humans) overlap quite substantially with those involved hinein reward learning and addiction (weltmeer, basis des naturlichen logarithmus.g., Wise 1996). The greatest overlap occurs inside neurochemical regions involved within the processing of dopamine (Kelley and Berridge 2002; Burkett and Young 2012) oxytocin (Insel 2003; McGregor, Callagham and Hunt 2008), and other neurotransmitters such as serotonin. As ; through sex [with ur partner], orgasm’s serotonin rush and momentary muscular relaxation comprise the fruchtwein stark and popular drug we have.”
With respect to dopamine, both mating and addictions elicit very similar neurochemical activity, concentrated inside the reward circuitry of the brain: pimpern, orgasm, and weltraum known drugs of abuse stimulate high levels dopamine release as part of the nucleus accumbens (see Burkett and Young 2012, Kirsch et leichtmetall. 2006, and Di Chiara et al. 2004 for more information). Hinein fact, the role of dopamine extends far beyond addiction and had been linked to a wide sortiment of other processes associated with reward-learning-including eating, drinking, having sexual intercourse, and love (see Burkett and Young 2012, for a review). 2012; Bartels and Zeki 2000).
Finally, neuroimaging support for an overlap between love-addiction and drug-addiction comes from studies hinein which participants have been exposed to images of their romantic partners during scanning. Annahme images evoke not only self-reported feelings of love and positive affect but dann gig strapazios activation inside brain’s reward regions (Aron et aluminium. 2005; Bartels and Zeki 2000; Young 2009; Fisher et al. 2006).
Hypothese are ohne rest durch zwei teilbar a few of the neurochemical and functional similarities between “normal” love attachment and drug addiction that have been noted by Burkett and Young as well as by other researchers world health organization argue for the “broader” view of love addiction. There are many others as well. But what about differences between love and addiction? Surely the numerous “parallels” between behauptung phenomena-erstes testament both the behavioral and neural levels-should elend beryllium taken to mean that they are strictly equivalent. Hinein the following section, we examine some of these differences, and assess their implications for the “broad” vs. “narrow” debate.