An 18-year-old woman in China, going by the alias Xiaoyu, recently landed in the hospital due to concerning behaviour towards her boyfriend. Doctors suspect borderline personality disorder might be the culprit, according to The South China Morning Post.
Local reports detail how Xiaoyu’s behaviour began during her freshman year when she allegedly developed an unhealthy dependence on her boyfriend, constantly requiring updates on his whereabouts and needing to be in frequent communication. This possessiveness ultimately strained the relationship, leaving her boyfriend feeling suffocated.
The situation reached a boiling point when Xiaoyu bombarded her boyfriend with over 100 calls in a single day, only to be met with silence. Devastated, she lashed out, damaging objects in their home. The boyfriend, fearing for her safety, alerted the authorities.
Police arrived to find Xiaoyu on the verge of jumping from their balcony. They promptly took her to the hospital, where she received a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), as reported by the publication.
Let’s understand more.
According to Dr Shaunak Ajinkya, consultant psychiatrist, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai, love brain is a colloquial term to describe the neurophysiological changes that occur in the brain when someone experiences romantic love.
He explained that when you fall in love, the brain releases certain chemicals and hormones, such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, and serotonin, which can lead to a range of feelings including elation, exhilaration, excitement, affection and feelings of attachment. The neurophysiological changes that occur in the brain can happen with anyone when they experience romantic love, regardless of whether or not they have BPD.
Those with BPD can experience love brain strongly (Source: Freepik)
“However, people with BPD may experience love and relationships in a different and a more extreme way than those without the disorder. They have intense, unstable relationships, difficulty trusting others, and fears of abandonment, which influences their relationships and how they experience romantic love,” Dr Ajinkya said in an interaction with indianexpress.com
What are the warning signs and symptoms of love brain?
Dr Ajinkya explained some of the symptoms, adding that experiencing “love brain” does not mean that someone has BPD, and having BPD does not mean that someone cannot experience romantic love and related emotional upheavals.
Intense attraction: Feeling intensely drawn to someone, often characterized by infatuation, elation, and a strong desire for emotional and physical closeness.
Obsessive thoughts: Constantly thinking about the person you’re in love with, feeling preoccupied with them, and idealizing them.
Sudden changes in energy levels: Feeling extremely energetic, excited, and euphoric when thinking about or being with the person you love.
Sudden changes in mood: Experiencing mood swings, feeling elated one moment and down the next, depending on the state of relationship with the loved person.
Increased focus on the relationship to the exclusion of other routine daily activities: Spending a lot of time thinking about the relationship and the person you’re in love with, and wanting to spend as much time with them as possible.
