Does love pain exist?

In literature, music and art in general we are used to talking about love. We treat him in a variety of ways, being something good at times, but at other times something that causes us a lot of harm too.

When we talk about love as something negative, we usually see it as something suffering, sad and, above all, painful. This “pain” that love causes is, above all, psychological, as it affects our mind and even our mental health.


We know that the beginnings of love relationships are marked by many expectations, anxieties and dreams. We start to imagine our life next to that person, doing anything.


When a relationship ends and all these expectations and desires are frustrated, we feel bewildered, frustrated and sad. This is where the pain we talked about earlier comes from, the psychological pain of love.

Although it exists psychologically, does this pain of love exist physically? Is it that in addition to affecting our psychological, love is capable of causing us physical pain? Can breaking with expectations and dreams about someone hurt us?

Hormones can cause love pain

When we love, we feel good, euphoric and very happy. We always want to be with that person we love and we greatly appreciate his presence. Did you know that there are hormones responsible for these feelings?

Does love pain exist?
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So it is! Dopamine and phenylethylamine, the latter known as the “passion hormone”, are the hormones responsible for all this well-being that love and passion cause us.

On the other hand, when we end a relationship, we are betrayed or our heart is hurt by someone, we become dysphoric, sad and sometimes angry. This process is extremely stressful and is also caused by hormones.



In this specific case, cortisol is the hormone responsible for these sensations. It is known to be the “stress-boosting” hormone and, in excess, it can even cause a lot of physical impact.

In addition, a breakup of a relationship can decrease the levels of serotonin and dopamine, other hormones responsible for the pleasure and well-being caused by a well-requited love.

Did you notice the relationship? If you have recently ended a relationship and, in addition to feeling psychologically ill, have been experiencing physical pain and discomfort, know that this may be closely related to cortisol and the loss of dopamine and serotonin.

Excess cortisol and low levels of dopamine and serotonin can cause muscle pain, physical pain, fatigue, tiredness and even deep depression. So yes, in that sense, the pain of love is also a physical pain!

Sadness causes love pain

The sadness caused by the breakup or the impossibility of a relationship is very great and evident.

If we feel happy for being with the loved one, we also feel sad in their absence, whether that absence is brief and short or an eternal absence.

Does love pain exist?
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In all these cases, the sadness that comes from this love can also cause physical pain and a very strong discomfort. And what's worse, it's like a vicious cycle: love causes psychological pain, which, in turn, causes physical pain that leads back to psychological pain.

You are sad that you are no longer with the person you love. This pain causes sadness, psychological pain, which, consequently, generates pain that physically reflects in discomfort or real pain.

How many times has sadness left you with headaches or body aches? Or even an impending feeling of unease? Now you can see that the pain of love goes beyond the limits of the psychological and affects the physical as well.



The physical pain of love is nothing new

Did you know that the pain of love as a direct cause of physical pain and discomfort is not something new? In fact, there were doctors and psychoanalysts who considered love a disease.

In 1623, Jacques Ferrand, a French physician, already said that love was directly responsible for discomfort and physical pain. Fever, anger and suffocation are symptoms and conditions that the doctor cited as resulting from the “sadness of love”.

Does love pain exist?
Valeria Ushakova / Pexels

The old “medicine of the soul” also used to say that unrequited or frustrated love hurts not only the mind or soul, but also our own body. It affects us physically, causing pain and a lot of restlessness. In other words, the idea that love can hurt the body is not something of today.

In fact, to report a curious case, a Roman doctor named Alessandro Petronio reported, in 1592, the case of a young woman who died due to this pain of love. Deprived by the sadness of not being able to have her love around, the young woman fell ill and died.

It's important to know our own pain

If you feel physical and psychological pain caused by love, taking medicine and painkillers will not be the only solution, but only part of the total solution.

Self-knowledge and knowledge of our own pain is more than necessary so that we can remove them from our life and end them, finally.


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Try to understand why this love causes you so much pain, physical or psychological, to only seek, therefore, attitudes that can subtract this painful feeling.


The remedy or remedy for this pain of love is not only in the physical, but in the psychic, psychological and in the soul itself.

If these pains are causing you a lot of inconvenience and a lot of problems, don't hesitate to consult a professional. It can be part of the total solution you should look for.

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