“Butterflies In Stomach Love” And Other Commonly-Experienced Physical Feelings When You’re In Love

By: Dylan Buckley

Updated July 14, 2021

Love is truly a fascinating and complex subject that involves how we bond with one another and how those bonds allow for a lifetime commitment, whether it be in the form of familial love, platonic love, or romantic love.

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Romantic love is especially interesting as it is one that can result in a wide variety of outcomes that leave us wondering, "How did I end up feeling like that?" The brain is at the center of all this activity and dictates how we fall in love with people, and how we experience that love. Sometimes we may have a small crush or a basic physical attraction, and other times we may find ourselves head over heels for someone else, willing to do absolutely anything and everything to enter a relationship with them. What is truly interesting is how love affects us physically, like having butterflies, and how we can seemingly sense that we feel strongly towards another individual. If you are interested in learning more about how the body reacts when faced with something as strong as love, here is a guide to some of the physical feelings of love that are commonly experienced by most individuals.

The Connection Between Love and Sexual Attraction

The most obvious physical feeling of love that will present itself aggressively is that of sexual attraction. When we feel strongly for someone, sex is typically intertwined in those feelings in some capacity. Some people will argue that this is not true love, or love at all, but the fact of the matter is that things are not that simple, and that often sex and love are found alongside each other. As such, you may experience feelings of sexual attraction if you do love someone; and often, you have to gauge whether you are simply experiencing sexual attraction for an individual, or if there is something more there. But this does not necessarily mean that you can't distinguish between the two, or have one without the other. Some research shows that romantic love can be experienced on its own, and that sexual attraction and love are independent of each other—and that they may or may not be experienced with each other.

Other Common Physical Effects Experienced When in Love

There are plenty of physical symptoms of being in love, such as the feeling of butterflies when in love, and this is because love often releases a ton of chemicals that affect the body. Some of these physical symptoms often include the following.

Feeling High

For most people, being in love with someone might feel as though they are on a drug or experiencing a high. As such, people will go to great lengths for the ones they are in love with, and may exhibit strange behaviors as a result of experiencing such feelings. The reason? It turns out that love or being in love is very much a drug in its own right.

It turns out that feelings of love affect the same parts of the brain that light up when addictive substances are used, and this happens for a very important reason. When experiencing intense romantic love, two sections of the brain are activated, and these two centers are responsible for the association with pleasure and the recognition of pleasurable and life-sustaining activities. This means that love fills you with pleasure and joy-inducing chemicals, and encourages you to maintain that attachment, as this was often important for the survival of early humans.

What to Do Next?

For many, the next question will be, what am I supposed to do next? Generally, if you are not already in a relationship with the person that you love, you will want to start dating them and trying to enter a more serious relationship stage. If you're in love someone and you want to make sure that you have plenty of time to enjoy their company and keep a relationship going, one great way to learn the skills needed and receive the proper support is through relationship counseling. Unlike love, therapy does not have to be difficult as it is designed to make your relationship easier to manage.

Reconnecting Through BetterHelp

Counselor Reviews

“Karen is great, honest, and straightforward. She helped me through some relationship issues I was having and did so in an effective and insightful way.” 

“I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Amy. She was kind and attentive, and made me feel comfortable sharing. For the months that I was in counseling, I was negotiating some difficult relationship challenges, and Amy helped me through these patiently and without judgement. She equipped me with some very practical tools for coping with stress and anxiety, which I still use even after discontinuing counseling. Five stars.”

Conclusion

If you think that you and your partner need help, and could benefit from therapy to strengthen your relationship and learn better relationship skills in the process, know that online counselors are there to assist you. You can once again feel the pangs of love you felt before—it may just take some work. Take the first step today.