The Mad, Mad Murders of Marigold Way by Raymond Benson

Author:Raymond Benson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beaufort Books
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

22

The heart wants what it wants.

At least that’s what poets and romanticists have led us to believe over the centuries. They’ve given us the impression that love generates in the heart, right? But does it? What is it about the heart that is the Love Generator?

I’ll bet you’ll say it’s because we feel it in our chests. Whenever we have those first pangs of a new relationship with someone, we feel all wobbly and fuzzy in the upper chest, that space between the lungs and behind the sternum. By the same token, if we have what they call a “heartbreak,” that is, a breakup or a fight with a loved one, we feel pain in the same spot. So, I suppose it’s natural that human beings over the years have likened the emotions related to romance to the heart.

What if I told you, though, that it’s really all in the mind?

When we are attracted to another person in, ahem, that way, the brain releases chemicals into our bloodstream called dopamine and oxytocin. These are drugs, folks, and we become addicted to them. The more intimate we become in a new relationship, the more wacko we get because of those drugs. Yes, dopamine and oxytocin produce physical effects—you know, heavy breathing, palpitations, flushing skin, and … ahem, other physical reactions. There’s also a lot of adrenaline involved, and that affects the heart muscles too. So, yes, we do feel all these things in our chests, but it’s because the brain is the instigator.

Heartache works the same way. When those drugs are cut off, we experience withdrawal. Withdrawal is painful. We feel those unpleasant feelings in our chest because the heart is suddenly deprived of those feel-good drugs, dopamine and oxytocin.

That brings us to the term “crime of passion.” You know what that is. It’s when someone does something bad because of the withdrawal of those chemical reactions that begin in the brain and are felt in the heart. Crimes of passion occur all the time, don’t they? Unfortunately, the term somehow whitewashes and romanticizes the reality of an act that is likely violent and messy.

But I guess “crime of dopamine and oxytocin” doesn’t sound as elegant.

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