Love is a Disease!

I occasionally read other blogs. There is a vast group of "mommy bloggers" out there: women who write about their families, kids, difficulties of being a mom, etc. One of them, a while back, started a movement called Love Thursday. The whole point of LT is to post something on Thursdays that represents love. Many of the mommy bloggers have picked it up.

So, without further adieu, here is my contribution to Love Thursday:

Love is nothing more than an addiction. At least according to the Today Show. There is a radio station in Miami that just broadcasts NBC all day long. It's great for listening to news and weather or for catching the start of a show if you are getting home late. Sometimes, on the way to work in the mornings, I listen to the Today Show to catch news and weather forecasts. During today's drive, I heard a segment that is part of a series Today is doing on love. One of the "experts" Today had essentially said love is equivalent to cocaine addiction.

According to this expert, the brain's chemical reactions associated with love mimic those of a cocaine high. The expert later when on to say that the brain's "love" chemicals act like any number of addictions.

In today's world where alcoholism and drug addiction are treated as diseases, Love should be a legitimate disability. I shouldn't have to go to work because I am "in love." There should be support groups for Lovers Anonymous. 12 steps to being love free.

I have always believed that love more than an emotional feel, and now I believe it is more than a chemical reaction. In the story, the the expert distinguishes between love and lust stating that different areas of the brain are involved in the two feelings.

True love is not a mechanical response to a chemical stimulus. Even though they distinguished between love and lust, I have a feeling what they measures was what we would call infatuation. There is an emotional response to love. It does make you feel good. A body may react to it in many ways. But true love goes beyone scientific measurement. No scientific instrument can measure the level of sacrifice that a committed husband or wife is willing to give for their spouse. That deep sense of commitment and devotion to another person cannot be sampled. True love, Biblical love, is far more complex than the human brain. When we equate love to an addiction or a chemical equation, we cheapen it. We show our lack of understanding of what love is really all about.

I am fortunate that I have found something more than a simple chemical in my brain. I hope you have found it too.