Love

A friend of mine asked me this question...what is love? I didn’t know how to answer the question...and the best way to get out of such situation is by saying I DUNNO...haha...but then it didn’t end there...it kept me thinking...what is love...have I been in love...how do we know we are in love...so I did what I should do...search on the different perspective of love.
I shall start with love in science.
According to a site I searched, There are 3 stages in falling in love and each involves different hormones.
Stage1: Lust
Lust is driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen. Testosterone is not confined only to men. It has been shown to play a major role in the sex drive and desire of women. These hormones get one to look out for the gender they prefer.
Stage2: Attraction
This is the love struck phase. When one falls in love, they can think of nothing else. They might lose appetite and need less sleep, preferring to spend hours day dreaming rather than sleeping. At this stage a group of neuro-transmitters called 'monoamines' play an important role:
 Dopamine - Also activated by cocaine and nicotine
 Norepinephrine - Otherwise known as adrenalin. Starts us sweating and gets the heart racing
 Serotonin - One of love's most important chemicals and one that may actually send us temporarily insane.
Stage 3: Attachment
This is what takes over after the attraction stage, if a relationship is going to last. People couldn't possibly stay in the attraction stage forever; otherwise they'd never get any work done. Two hormones released by the nervous system, which are thought to play a role in social attachments:
 Oxytocin - This is released by the hypothalamus gland during child birth and also helps the breast express milk. It helps cement the strong bond between mother and child. It is also released by both sexes during orgasm and it is thought that it promotes bonding when adults are intimate. The theory goes that the more sex a couple has, the deeper their bond becomes
 Vasopressin - Another important chemical in the long-term commitment stage. It is an important controller of the kidney and its role in long-term relationships was discovered when scientists looked at the prairie vole.
Ok. This is the science aspect of how to know we are in love….mainly the first 2 stages applies…I will focus on other perspective on my next write up if time permits!