<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"You know that incredible high you got the first time you fell in love, those sparks that lit you on fire, body, heart and soul? And remember the crushing devastation of that break up? When the person who lit you up like a Christmas tree was gone and all that was left were the splinters of your broken heart? Well, looks like there&amp;#039;s a reason for all that passion and pain. According to a new study, drugs and alcohol may not be your vice, but getting over romantic love could be just as hard to get over as an addiction.  &amp;quot;The researchers found that, for heartbroken men and women, looking at photographs of former partners activated regions in the brain associated with rewards, addiction cravings, control of emotions, feelings of attachment and physical pain and distress,&amp;quot; LiveScience.com said. The study&amp;#039;s author is Helen E. Fisher, who I have encountered quite a bit in my career as a lifestyle journalist. She is a biological anthropologist at RutgersUniversity who studies love, she is the author of Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love and she&amp;#039;s also the expert behind those questions on the dating site Chemistry.com. I like her, she&amp;#039;s always made sense, and this makes sense as well. Of course, everyone makes bad decisions in love (or at least mostly everyone), and gets themselves into at least one heart-wrenching situation that leaves them a wreck. But there are those people who keep making the same mistakes over and over again. So, perhaps, they are addicted to the highs of love and have a hard time kicking the habit. There is good news, though. Researchers found that time does indeed heal a broken heart, something we&amp;#039;ve all seen anecdotally, but it&amp;#039;s always nice to be backed up. So the next time you tell your friend fresh off a break up that it will just take time, at least you have science on your side. Now, if you are looking for love but you&amp;#039;re sick and tired of the broken heart part, read &amp;quot;10 Tips for Starting a New Relationship,&amp;quot; to find out how to get off to a good start. - Alexandra Gekas, Associate Editor "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/dating-marriage/news/a44317/study-finds-romantic-love-may-be-an-addiction-2495/>