Does Love at First Sight Exist?

05.10.2018

Imagine that you are sitting in a restaurant, walking through the city or standing in line for gelato. You look up or turn your head and see the person on whom your eyes are immediately focused. It seems inexplicable, but your inner self tells you to get acquainted with this person. You just cannot stop thinking about them. What is that: obsession or love?

What attracts you and makes you completely forget about everything that is happening around, focusing on this person? You can read scientific articles about whether love at first sight exists or not, but nothing can be truer than your own experience. Even if it is a fleeting sense of love, it will always be a part of your essence.

What is love at first sight?

Many people continue to ask the same question, “Does love at first sight exist?” It is a phenomenon in which one half of humanity believes, and the other denies the possibility of its existence. Initially, this kind of love seems so fabulous that it's hard to believe in such a feeling. Nonetheless, there are so many examples, when people claimed that they had fallen in love at first sight. Perhaps, it even happened to you when you saw an interesting stranger and suddenly felt an irresistible attraction to them. Or, if you had failed to take advantage of the moment to get acquainted, and your mysterious stranger had disappeared into the crowd, you weren't able to get their image out of your head for a very long time, continuing to reflect on the very meeting again and again.

It’s about instant crush when you look at a person for the first time, but you immediately realize that this is your one and only. You have an overwhelming desire to approach this person, and you just cannot look away. Almost at the instinctive level, some force tells you that you shouldn’t miss this person because you will be happy only with them. If you faced all these “symptoms,” then it was love at first sight.

Many people reject this theory as a kind of fantasy, but this may happen just because they have not experienced similar feelings. Otherwise, they would ask, “What does love at first sight feel like?” Therefore, it’s necessary to consider the physical symptoms of its existence as well.

• The list of main physical symptoms this is true love at first sight.
• Your heart starts pumping when you look at the person.
• Your blood pressure goes up, sugar enters the bloodstream, and you feel a sense of euphoria.
• You get shallow breathing.
• Your pupils dilate.
• Your palms and other parts of the body are starting to get sweaty.
• You are weak in the knees.
• You feel the warmth spreading when you think about the person.
• You are shocked, and the atmosphere is electric.
• Your friends think that you are on a diet because you are so excited that you don't have an appetite.
• You can’t sleep because you think about the person.
• You are flabbergasted by desire and longing.

Most of the symptoms are associated with the release of adrenaline in the blood and a decrease in blood pressure in your brain. Why and how does this happen? It is still a mystery, which those who are unsure that falling in love at first sight is possible are trying to solve.

Different views on instant crush: chemistry and life.

Is there such thing as love at first sight? Why does this very stranger make such an indelible impression? You feel as if there are wings behind your back, and your soul is filled with incomprehensible joy. There are quite a few versions on this subject.

In the view of physiologists.

Physiologists explain this by the impact of pheromones, the special substances released by a person to attract the opposite sex. They do not smell but affect certain receptors, causing strong emotions and sexual attraction. Only one thing is not clear: why you go mad because of the pheromones of one person and stay indifferent to others.

In the view of anthropologists.

Anthropologists believe that instant crush is a literal meaning. It's about the eyes, or rather, about making eye contact with another person. They are sure that this is about an instinct, which people have inherited from animals. The animal's watchful gaze forces them to take their guard and sends an impulse to the area of the brain, which is responsible for the action. At this moment, they decide to approach or to leave. Such an eye contact is perceived by people as falling in love. According to the conducted studies, a long eye contact only increases the feeling of love and gives rise to confidence in the partner.

In the view of psychologists.

Psychologists who are Freud's followers believe that a person's first and bright love appears in childhood. It's about the love for the father or mother. When people have grown up, girls start looking for men like their fathers, and boys, respectively, start searching for women like their mothers.

Therefore, if a person had a good relationship with their parent, they can fall in love with a person who looks like their parent in general or in particular. Or vice versa, if there was a conflict with the parent, then the person is looking for a partner who resembles a parent in some way to finish the dialogue and prove that they are better than the parent thought about them.

In the view of sexologists.

Sexologists believe that a woman is unconsciously looking for a man with features of a person who once left an indelible impression. This can be about a boy next door, a classmate or the first intimate partner. Sexologists have even come up with a term, describing this phenomenon, the "topography of love." It is like the notches of pleasure and pain that remain in your heart. Therefore, when you meet a person who is similar to the one who brought you joy or despair, you can fall in love with them in spite of all logic.

The statistical probability of love at first sight.

Is it possible to fall in love at first sight? When you meet a stranger, two areas of your brain “turn on.” One of them is responsible for your emotions, and another one is responsible for your autobiographical memory, which also helps you make decisions and determine the value of what you are facing.

Is love at first sight possible? According to the studies, the intense power of love at first sight can be felt in 0.2 seconds after a visual contact. This feeling is created when twelve areas of your brain work together, producing and releasing hormones, as well as chemicals related to love, such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline, and vasopressin. You feel euphoria and excitement, and your brain urges to start a relationship with the object of sympathy, who is perceived as "chemically useful." This proves that from the chemical point of view, instant crush happens since the brain can quickly generate attachment in a long-term relationship.

Talking about the statistical probability, one can think that it’s about women since they are more romantic and impulsive. However, this is not the case. A study of foreign sociologists has shown that men are more likely to fall in love at first sight, meeting the very woman.

During the survey, 30 of the 100 men admitted that they had fallen in love at first sight. Talking about women, only 15 of the 100 women told that they had experienced this feeling. According to experts, this is due to the fact that men and women fall in love in different ways. Men get turned on by what they see, so it is enough for them to look at a woman to fall in love. However, women are more concerned about the inner world of potential partners, and it takes quite a lot of time to access it.

Love at first sight signs.

Do you believe in love at first sight? If you have the following signs, then you might be one of those dreamy, but enterprising people who are guided by feelings without objection. You might really like to ride the "roller coaster" of the emotions you experience.

You feel butterflies in the stomach.

When you fall in love at first sight, adrenaline immediately enters the veins. The result is the notorious effect of "butterflies in the stomach." It’s very difficult to describe the feeling correctly, but it makes you happy despite the fact that you feel a little concerned. This state is one of the sure signs of love at first sight.

You experience excessive nervousness.

When you fall in love with someone, your instincts do not allow you to sleep or eat properly. It's like an exam, which you must pass the next day or a very important event, so your stomach is in knots due to experiences and nervousness. Such feeling is a mixture of happiness, fear of being rejected, anxiety because of a desire to make a good first impression and draw attention. If, after the first meeting, you experience feelings of unreasonable nervousness, and you get sweaty, thinking about the person, then you might have fallen in love at first sight. You behave this way because you are afraid of losing the person you have fallen in love with and that your love story will remain incomplete because of that.

You feel like you've known each other for decades.

You have just met and started communicating, but you can't shake the feeling that you know this person for a long time or as if you had already met somewhere before. In other words, a strong emotional connection has established between you. It seems that you are good friends, and now, you want to talk yourself out because of a long separation. You do not have the feeling that, in principle, there is a stranger in front of you, who is yet to be better known. You forget about the people around you, and your eyes are locked only on this person. There is a pleasant silence between you, which creates a magnetic attraction.

The person is far from the type of your supposed soulmate.

Everybody has a "type" of people they like. Someone may like people of athletic build, while others may like artists, botanists, slender girls or curvy ones. If you notice that you are attracted to the person by an irresistible force although they are far from your supposed type, then it can be about an instant crush. After all, a beloved person doesn’t always correspond to the imagined picture.

Your thoughts are constantly about this person.

Is there love at first sight? When you fall in love at first sight, you try to walk around mind places, restoring scraps of conversation, facial features, physique and voice of the person. Therefore, if after the first meeting, you feel like a teenager, experiencing first love, and you cannot help but think about the very one, then you are under the influence of love chemistry.

You start visualizing your future with this person.

If it is about love at first sight, then you will most likely begin to imagine yourself in a relationship with this person. You start dreaming of a meeting, a date, and a long-term relationship. You can imagine how you buy your shared house, start a family and rely on them as on future spouse. You become so confident in the future of this sudden love attraction that it seems to you a fait accompli.