Hell Hath No Fury
Women in Love
In his poem Don Juan, Byron said; “Man’s love is of man’s life a thing apart, ‘Tis woman’s whole existence.”
For many women, this statement is mildly offensive. Sick of being branded as irrational, over-emotional and easily swayed by love, any woman who reckons she’s got her head screwed on straight will deny it in the interest of preserving what scraps of gender equality are available to her (not to mention keeping her dignity intact). The sad fact is any woman who reckons she’s got her head screwed on straight is wrong.
Even the most rational woman will find herself at home (mooning about) relaxing (waiting for the phone to ring) with a glass of wine (drinking away the sharp edges of her anxiety) and listening to Kate Bush CD’s when she falls in love, her normal assured level of sanity (considering PMS, bra’s and the other miscellaneous complications that every woman deals with) reduced to the level of neurotic obsession.
Women Scorned
On being jilted, the same rational woman will find herself in a black night of the soul that leaves her unable to concentrate on work, unable to eat or sleep and unable to stop crying or thinking of her absent lover. With the right set of stimuli, Sensible Sue will turn into a crazed jackal-brained bitch who will stop at nothing to take revenge on her ex. We’ve all heard the stories.
Dr. Louann Brizendine neurobiologist and author of ‘The Female Brain’, explains that “the state of early romantic love can be reignited by being dumped, which actually heightens the phenomenon of passionate love in the brain circuits.” That is to say, a woman will often spin out into an agitated, obsessive state in which she loses all sense of context and becomes hell-bent on getting her lover back.
This is not because the poor thing has nothing better to do with her time. It’s because of the way that Mother Nature (not all that sane Herself) designed her; for the survival of the species.
The Biology
Dr. Brizendine explains how, by its very structure (bigger emotional memory center, greater ability to read cues, different chemical composition) the female brain is a completely different kind of engine from that of the male, elegantly designed to function primarily for the purpose of relationships, emotion and nurturing.
This has a profound influence over her priorities. When love comes to town, the coolest ice queen is driven by her biology to become warm, supportive, psychotic and dedicated to her mate.
Yes, that did say psychotic.
Hey man, got any Dope (amine)?
The chemistry of the human brain is remarkably similar to those science lab experiments that involve a rat, a maze, some cheese and a nerd. Rat presses red button, cheese. Rat presses green button, electric shock. Except in our case, the maze is our lives and we don’t get cheese we get dopamine, a neurotransmitter which turns on our pleasure centres, reinforcing positive responses to stimuli like food and sex. Dopamine is part of our fundamental survival mechanism. But when our dopamine level gets too high, things can get a little weird.
Eros and Psychotic
In March of this year, Nature Neuroscience published the results of a study that linked psychopathic behavior to elevated dopamine levels in the brain. Joshua Buckholtz, lead author of the study was quoted as saying that a hyperactive dopamine reward system “may be the foundation for some of the most problematic behaviors associated with psychopathy, such as violent crime, recidivism (yeah I had to look it up too, it means “chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns”) and substance abuse.”
The other nerd on the team, associate professor of psychology and psychiatry David Zald, added, “These individuals appear to have such a strong draw to reward—to the carrot—that it overwhelms the sense of risk or concern about the stick.”
There is also evidence linking high dopamine levels to schizophrenia.
“Yes,” you say, “but what has that got to do with women in love?”
Madly in Love
Well, this. After conducting MRI studies on the human brain, Rutgers University research professor Helen Fisher observed “When our subjects look at a photograph of their sweetheart, one of the main parts of the brain that lights up is the ventral tegmental area, a tiny little region that makes dopamine and sprays it around the brain.”
Hang on a second… did she just say “sprays dopamine around the brain?” Isn’t that a little reckless?
Well… yes… but so is breeding when you think about it; getting us to bypass the common sense that tells us it’s dangerous and stupid to give birth takes some powerful chemical convincing.
Addicted to You
According to Fisher, Dopamine is associated with “arousal and, at very high levels, anxiety and fear (as well as) addictions. When you take cocaine, dopamine soars. Alcohol, Nicotine, Morphine – they all elevate levels of dopamine.”
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