“Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs,
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes,
Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers’ tears.
What is it else? A madness most discreet,
A choking gall and a preserving sweet.”

-William Shakespeare

Love is the most exhilarating, thrilling and happening thing from ages. A winged Cupid, armed with a golden quiver full of ‘arrowed desires’, encounters almost everyone; irrespective of age, sex and race. Apart from romantic love, it can be fraternal, filial, or for one’s own country as well. It is an integral part of mankind, a basic necessity. As marked by Franklin P. Jones, “Love doesn’t make the world go ’round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”

An inspiration for about ninety percent of the literature scribbled in this universe is this miraculous experience. People with no sense of rhyme and creativity turn supernaturally poetic and expressive under the shade of love. Love is the answer, but it is difficult to abstract the question; it is simply a wonderful experience.

Scientists all over the world are busy finding the very cause that why a person fall in love. Some consider love as a bio-chemical reaction and other describe it an electrical stimulation generated in our body. Actually none of the explanations are wrong. Recent neurological studies have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including pheromones, dopamine, noradrenalin,and serotonin, stimulating the brain’s pleasure centre.

Infatuation is the first stage, the stage of attraction. There can be many reasons for it like physical attraction or an unmet childhood desire for mating. At this stage, person in love experiences happiness, excitement and sexual stimulation. Elevated heart rate, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, nausea, feeling of pleasure and intense euphoric state of mind in which thoughts concentrate for one aim also adds to it. The cause for these symptoms is in no way emotional rather accounted as side effects of the chemical reactions. Research has indicated that this stage generally lasts from one and a half to three years.

Intake of cocaine, also results in similar kind of sensations and symptoms as it also stimulates dopamine secretions. So it can be conveniently concluded that love can prove as addictive as cocaine.

The stage of lust, most commonly describes the initial passionate sexual desire and involves increased release of testosterone and oestrogen. These scenarios seldom last for more than few weeks or months.

The stage of attachment, since the attraction and lust stages are temporary, the attachment stage accounts for long term relationships. Ambrose Bierce, describes it in a simple phrase “Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage.” .The stage of commitment.

Lastly, the stage of Obsession, in this, the person has pervasive pattern of preoccupation with the thoughts of his or her lovers. This stage is lot similar to a personality disorder known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Sufferer of this diseased condition is also pre-occupied with rules, regulations, and achievement of perfection. It is an established fact that in these conditions, carrier proteins for serotonin, another neurotransmitter, decreases to half of its required levels. So, there are facts to prove that love is a kind of behavioural disorder too.

Whatever the title may be an obsession, a disorder, chemical or hormonal stimulation, but it remains the most magical experience one can ever have.