Love isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
What happens to you when you fall in love? What about being dumped? How does self-love compare?
Being in love usually means that we adopt rose-colored glasses and a sunny disposition—while heartbreak can cause us to feel depressed and adopt a negative outlook.
Are we crazy or is there any substance to these drastic feelings and personality changes?
Dr. Amber Abernathy, associate professor of psychology, details the effects that love and heartbreak have on someone’s brain and overall personality in the newest episode of the “Health Queries” podcast.
“Romantic love is what we typically think of when we think about love, which translates to infatuation. With infatuation being much more short-term, there is still a lot that’s happening in the brain during this time,” Abernathy remarks. “There’s a lot of ups and downs happening with a variety of chemicals in your brain.”
