The Notebook, Titanic, and When Harry Met Sally Updated at Aug 23, 2022, 14:33
That said, the most telling sign, according to Kang, is if you find yourself wanting to divulge as much as you can to your love interest, from a small win at work to your relationship history.
“I knew I was falling in love with my now-husband Jack when I found myself calling him every night, wanting to share every little detail about my day and wanting to know about his,” she says.
They’re always in your thoughts.
Sure, it might be trite—but it’s true. You know you’re falling in love when your someone begins to take up major real estate in your thoughts. You might find yourself rehashing your conversations in the middle of work, thinking about your next date days in advance, or even envisioning your future together. For Kang, she remembers rereading her husband\'s text messages and viewing his photos over and over again when they first began dating because she thought about him so often.
And you’re dying to know if they love you, too.
If you find yourself considering whether this person feels similarly and you look for for signs that they\'re missing you, too, that\'s another signifier, Jacqueline Olds, MD, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, tells Oprah Daily.
“Your stomach and heart may take a leap every time they contact you or suggest spending time together,” adds Olds, who has completed extensive research on long-term marriage, alongside her husband of 41 years, Richard Schwartz, MD. (The couples therapists cowrote Marriage in Motion: The Natural Ebb and Flow of Lasting Relationships.)
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Along this same vein, if you’re falling in love, you tend to experience a warm feeling when you think about your significant other, according to Kang. That may mean you can\'t stop smiling, or you might notice that you generally feel more positive and hopeful.
You feel like a teenager again.
Falling in love has a way of making you feel like a wide-eyed, wild-hearted teenager again, and that\'s no coincidence, says Kelifern Pomeranz, PsyD, a California-based clinical psychologist and certified s*x therapist. "When you fall in love, your body produces a cocktail of chemicals, including dopamine (for wanting more), noradrenaline (for excitement, focus, and attention), testosterone (for s*xual interest and drive), and a drop in serotonin (which can cause that low-key obsessive feeling). These chemicals make us feel happy, giddy, energetic, euphoric, and youthful."
They become a priority.
“We make time for what–or who–we love,” says Rachel DeAlto, the chief dating expert for Match (formerly known as Match.com). “If you’re rearranging, reprioritizing, and reimagining your life, you may be falling in love,” she explains.
Equally important: It doesn\'t feel like a sacrifice when you have to make changes to your calendar (say, brunch with your girlfriends) in order to ensure you\'re available to attend something important to them (like a family party or dinner with a sibling who\'s visiting from out of town).
You crave them.
Yes, you read that right. Similar to how you can crave a favorite food or even a seasonal cocktail (hello, frosé), you can crave a person, too.
Match’s chief scientific advisor, Helen Fisher, PhD, has studied these feelings and found that an area of our brain associated with focus and craving called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) causes increased levels of dopamine to be released when you’re falling in love.
As DeAlto notes, this yearning is usually coupled with feeling a rush when you think of them.
You even find their quirks attractive.
Perpetual apologizer? Neat freak? All (innocuous) traits of your beloved are fair game and welcomed when you’re falling in love. “You start to find everything about them irresistible," explains DeAlto. "That even includes their little quirks, their odd sense of style, and their particular way of doing things, which all become endearing.”
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There is one thing, though, that\'s more important than how they act or what they do: You’re mindful of the emotional climate within the other person, including what troubles them, what brings them joy, or what triggers anxiety. “You care about their happiness, as much as your own,” says DeAlto. “Empathy and compassion for your partner rises as you fall in love.”
They make you feel better about yourself.
People in the throes of falling in love often report feeling like they know more, or can do more, according to Theresa E. DiDonato, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Loyola University Maryland. She describes how an experience of “self-expansion” often occurs as people fall in love, meaning their own sense of self grows through their relationship with this new pe