Love and Health.

Love has consequences for health and well-being. Engaging in joyful activities
such as love may activate areas in the brain responsible for emotion, attention,
motivation and memory (i.e., limbic structures), and it may further serve to control
the autonomic nervous system, i.e., stress reduction. Th is specific CNS activity
pattern appears to exert protective effects, even on the brain itself. Moreover,
anxiolytic effects of pleasurable experiences may occur by promotion of an inhibitory
tone in specific areas of the brain. Th us, love and pleasure clearly are capable
of stimulating health, well-being and (re)productivity: Th is wonderful biological
instrument makes procreation and maintenance of organisms and their species a
deeply rewarding and pleasurable experience, thus ensuring survival, health, and
perpetuation.
Is love healthy?
Love has consequences for health and well-being.
Th e better we understand the concrete
neurobiology of love and its possible secondary
implications, the greater is our respect for the significance and potency of love’s role in mental and
physical health . Love is closely related to the
concept of pleasure and ‘positive psychology’, i.e.,
joyful mental states, and therefore has become a
feature not only of thorough psychological but
also basic science research – e.g., neurobiology –
and clinical medicine.
Love, particularly in the beginning (i.e., falling
in love), can sometimes be stressful .
However, it still possesses a strong and overall
stress reducing potential . By helping individuals
to cope with stressful situations and, at first,
survive, love truly represents an essential ‘ingredient’ of a
healthy and satisfying life.