Thanks for the link. I followed it, and now I'm reading "Lust, Romance, Attachment: Do the Side Effects of Serotonin-Enhancing Antidepressants Jeopardize Romantic Love, Marriage, and Fertility?"
It starts with a description of how "intense courtship attraction" (i.e., being in love) and lust are governed by different pathways in the brain, and notes that higher levels dopamine and possibly norepinephrine are involved with intense courtship attraction as well as lowered levels of serotonin. Boosting serotonin activity, therefore, can block intense courtship attraction.
I'm about halfway through it, and everything that follows here is not from the paper.
Now in some people, "intense courtship attraction" produces decidedly unattractive behaviors (Why? Maybe because of a generally dysfunctional mentality that needs to be treated anyway?), so suppressing it to some degree may improve a romantic relationship or even enable one. (I think that's true in my case) Also, some antidepressants also boost norepinephrine activity, which might keep the serotonin boost from killing the courtship attraction entirely. (Also plausible for yours truly... I find my own "courtship attraction" characterized by more "loving" behaviors and less "needy" behaviors during treatment, and more stable since it's more consistently reciprocated)
Anyway, I'll finish the article later and see what she concludes.
a fine and enviable madness, this delusion that all questions have answers, and nothing is beyond the reach of a strong left arm.
