LOVE is a Mental Illness?

[Pensive]

Yes. We can be. We are perfectly happy until Love Sickness struck us. The experiences are quite Universal...

Nah. It would be better to put it this way: We are perfectly happy until the need to love/be loved strikes us. This shows the lack of love (not any presence of love) is the cause of this sickness, not love.

If it moves like a cat, if it sounds like a cat and if it looks like a cat then it is a cat?

You are mistaken here. My belief is it causes happiness as well as sadness, so its movement is half like that of cat, its sound and looks are partly like that of a cat but it doesn't make it a cat. In other words, it doesn't make it a sickness itself.

LOVE is like OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Whatever love is, it's not a mental illness/disorder.

If there is no pain then it aint love.

i agree with lote, i fyou truly "love" someone, then you become attached to them, and there is extreme pain when you "love" some one and they don't like you the same amount back, since no one can look into others minds yet, we won't know when to become highly attached to a person to stop this pain from happening.

What if they like you back? And they show it. You have got to be happy then. You ought not to pain yourself. And there are some people who when love someone (have seen myself) don't want the other to love them back, but to lead a happy life him/herself. And if the other one is leading a happy life, he feels good. So it necessarily doesn't have to be a pain.

But many times, yes, it's a pain. But not always. There are some very firm believers who love what they call God so much that they say that this love has relieved them from pain rather than make their life painful. You would find them happy and contented. You wouldn't see them trying to commit suicide. What do you think about this love?

[the silent x]

[QUOTE=Pensive;392516]What if they like you back? And they show it. You have got to be happy then. You ought not to pain yourself. And there are some people who when love someone (have seen myself) don't want the other to love them back, but to lead a happy life him/herself. And if the other one is leading a happy life, he feels good. So it necessarily doesn't have to be a pain.[QUOTE]

there's were i think i have the conversation kinda mixed up. i am talking about the pain afterward. i went out with a girl and we both liked each other, we were like *insert two objects that complement each other* times 100. and at a dance, i guess my hand was on her rear and not on her hip like i was trying to do, and she said that maybe we should stop seeing each other. i still can't let her go, of course, not many people form bonds like me, if you an di become friends, nothing in heaven or hell will let me forget it.

[Pensive]

What if they like you back? And they show it. You have got to be happy then. You ought not to pain yourself. And there are some people who when love someone (have seen myself) don't want the other to love them back, but to lead a happy life him/herself. And if the other one is leading a happy life, he feels good. So it necessarily doesn't have to be a pain.

there's were i think i have the conversation kinda mixed up. i am talking about the pain afterward. i went out with a girl and we both liked each other, we were like *insert two objects that complement each other* times 100. and at a dance, i guess my hand was on her rear and not on her hip like i was trying to do, and she said that maybe we should stop seeing each other. i still can't let her go, of course, not many people form bonds like me, if you an di become friends, nothing in heaven or hell will let me forget it.

I am sorry for that. I know it's hard. But sometimes the situation is different. Like the one I mentioned in my earlier post.

[nomoredrama28]

love is a word

[the silent x]

people need to be loved, i'll give you that, but how many wars were started over love, and i am encompassing all of love, family, friend, lover, religion, etc..., there is a war that has been going on over thousands of years becasue "i love my god enough to put down my life for him and prove that yours is wrong", it's between Sunni's and Shiites, (pardon any misspellings). the trojans were wiped out because some kings daughter was kidnapped by someone who loved her. also love is a life saver, if someone wants to commit suicide, but someone, be it a ex-girlfriend that still cares about what the kid does with his life, or his parents, or a best friend, even someone off the street because you can argue that compassion is a form of love.

love is a word

with four letters? (sarcasm is supposed to be dripping)

[nomoredrama28]

nope, 5 letters

[Shalot]

I wouldn't say love is a mental illness. Love is normal. It's something that normal people do. It's the ones who can't love that you've got to worry about.

True, people can do some insane things because of unrequited love, or because of who they love, or what his/her lover has done to him/her, but it's not love that makes them crazy.

[motherhubbard]

My personal view is this: LOVE is the most nobles of emotions. Love and compassion is what make us human

Every time you say what you really thing about something it makes me smile!

[Lote-Tree]

It is, indeed, noble madness and noble masochism. It's extremely noble and (not humane) divine, which is why it's like a knife through the heart and a slow death that never leads to death. One feels like one is dying but without the relief that comes with actual death, so it is a perpetual, unceasing torment of the soul...

Countess you and I seemed to share similiar experiences...knife throught the heart? I would say it is hot-iron through the soul!!...we must have been twins in our previous lives!!!!

yes definately a madness!!!...those ancient writers got is so right!!!

Mental Illness? Addiction? Yes add them to the list too - No wonder it is known as Love Sickness!!!

Every time you say what you really think about something it makes me smile!

If it makes someone smile then it must be a good thing :-)

But my thoughts are worthless as a used tissue paper...so I would not take it seriously :-)

I wouldn't say love is a mental illness. Love is normal. It's something that normal people do. It's the ones who can't love that you've got to worry about.

But if you to tell your doctor of your symptoms then the Dr would by Medical Text book diagnoses - prescribe anti-depressant like Prozac. Is that normal?

[ennison]

You can live without it. You can live after your arms and legs get chopped off too.

[Redzeppelin]

Love isn't mental illness - it's a choice that may reveal a "mental illness "of sorts. Infatuation makes us do stupid things, but we can't claim mental illness - we pretty much knew what we were doing when we jumped into this mess...

[kathycf]

While understanding that some people may develop unhealthy infatuations or obsessions, and that a broken heart is a miserable, dark and lonely thing...I have to wonder something. People develop eating disorders, should we do away with food? People develop insomnia, should sleeping be eliminated? No, because people need to eat and they need to sleep.

While I am sure people can survive without love (far better than they could manage without sleep or food), can they live well without it? Isn't it a quality of life issue?

On a weirdly related note, when I read the title for this thread it reminded me of that old song...(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right If love is outlawed, only outlaws will have love! Or something like that.

[nomoredrama28]

You can live without it. You can live after your arms and legs get chopped off too.

true! but you cant live when your head gets cut off!

[nomoredrama28]

love is toxic!

but then again, so is water if you drink too much of it.

[Moira]

There was a quote i loved, it goes something like this:

He/She who doesn't fear anything, doesn't love anything or doesn't love anything strong enough so that he/she would fear .....
I tried to translate it but i'm not happy with the result. Anyway ....

Love cannot be a mental illness ..... it can though lead to mental illness and Kathycf has a good point......

There are people who ''who cannot cope with the intensity of love, have been destabilised by falling in love, or suffer on account of their love being unrequited." ...... but there are also many happy situations .......

But how long do you think love can last? I somehow cannot believe in 'loving someone forever', at a certain point it's not love anymore ..... and i'm not talking about a parent loving his/her child, that is different.