Love at first sight: is it real?

In movies and soap operas it’s common for a couple to fall in love on the first date. A long look, a different and ready smile: both believe they have found their soulmate. Who wouldn’t want to experience a situation and a feeling like this? But in real life does that happen? Does love come as fast as Hollywood tries to make us believe? Does love at first sight exist or is it just another big lie and illusion?

Does love at first sight really exist?

As its name suggests, it’s love at first sight. When a friend introduces us to someone who attracts us instantly, or we pass someone at the bus stop and quickly feel that we should get to know them. It can also occur in a fleeting exchange of looks in a bar, in a shopping mall… That is, yes, at any moment it can happen.

Love at first sight or platonic love?

Love at first sight is not exactly platonic love. They may have some small points in common, but Plato’s romantic idea refers to a perfect idea of unrequited love, which goes beyond the limits of the carnal.

The idea of platonic love may have a connection with love at first sight in the fact that it seems very difficult for two people who have just met to consume their passion. However, Plato’s idea refers to an absolutely pure and disinterested love, which is not based on the mere attraction of one individual to another, but focuses on kindness and something more spiritual. What we feel in love at first sight is more linked to sexual desire.

The physical signs of love at first sight

It is common knowledge that when we feel love at first sight, our body releases a series of hormones that make us more sensitive and leave us in a state of high emotions. Here are some signs that are triggered in these situations:

Body sweat

Especially if you are close to the person you want, you feel that your body temperature increases, your hands sweat, you blush and, consequently, your interior becomes a furnace. This can make you feel a little more insecure than usual, or maybe a little overwhelmed by the situation.

Nervousness

You can get a little blocked from talking, the words don’t come out as they should and all the fluidity you have in a normal conversation just disappears. You have difficulty forming sentences and can even say something without much meaning. This is because you are trying to impress the person you like and by thinking too much about the words, the result is the opposite of what you want.

Increased blood pressure

Another characteristic of passion or love at first sight is that blood pressure skyrockets. It is as if you had an injection of adrenaline because you met this person.

Fixed thoughts

When you get home you constantly think: what is the man/woman I saw called? Why didn’t I have the courage to go and talk to him/her? Will I come across him/her again?

Does love at first sight turn into real love?

And who said that love at first sight cannot evolve into something more lasting? Here we give you some tips for you to put your foot down and see if this love has a future:

Recognize and admit your faults and mistakes

While you are immersed in passion, it is difficult to recognize the other’s faults. Critical thinking and judgment are altered and you only see a handsome, caring and wonderful man at your side. Caution! If your critical sense evaporates, you can order the novel to disappear as quickly as it emerged.

Carpe Diem

It means “enjoy and live the moment”. You are experiencing something beautiful, so enjoy and avoid thinking about things like “are we going to be together?”, “Is he/she the man/woman of my life?”. Live now, trust it and enjoy time together.

Don’t force things

Things take their course and in the end who wins is naturalness and communication. If you force things, it may not work. You don’t even know if that person is the right one for you, so give yourself time to appreciate things slowly and find out if cupid has successfully launched his love arrows.

Give fate a chance

It doesn’t matter if it’s passion, a chemical reaction or anything else, the important thing is to be open to love. Give fate a chance, who knows what will happen to you in the future? And if it doesn’t work, move on. Much better people can go through your life.

Love at first sight as a scientific issue

When we feel Cupid’s arrow, the pupils dilate, the heart begins to beat faster and biochemical reactions in the brain come into play. They provide us with a sense of well-being and happiness. This is a fact, but we cannot determine whether the feeling of the first impression will last.

According to experts, the passion in a relationship is lost between 18 and 30 months. After that, if there is love and affinity, the relationship becomes stronger and will probably last.

According to a study by the University of Syracuse, US, feelings of love can occur 0.2 seconds after first making eye contact with someone. The study explains that the feeling is created by 12 areas of the brain that work together to release substances that induce euphoria, such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopressin, and the effect is so fast that you may think it is love.

Another study by Dr. Helen Fisher, from Rutgers University, says that falling in love quickly could be a shortcut to mating in order to ensure the spread of the species. It would be a basic mammalian response, which was developed to speed up the process that ensures that our genes are going to be inherited.