When you fall in love or in lust, it isn’t merely an emotional event. Your various hormones, each with unique features to contribute, get in bed with you too. In a way, it’s as if there were a corporate decision going on here, with each chemical casting its vote. You may just find yourself outnumbered.
by Theresa L. Crenshaw
Identifies the role our hormones play in the different sexual stages, exploring the age-old concept of chemistry between the sexes and how hormones can determine the course of human relationships.
Now and then, otherwise reasonable men and women getambushed by forces so powerful they submit to impulses they never dreamed they would have, much less act on, Intoxicated by mysterious forces, would you succumb to your chemistry? Not you? Don’t be so sure. Much like alcohol, sexual arousal impairs your judgement. In fact, the mix of the two can often override your common sense. If you happen to be one of the precious few who have escaped such compelling experiences, surely you have heard such stories about a friend who, swept away by hormonal surprise, turned into someone that neither of you recognized.
The fact is this: When you fall in love or in lust, it isn’t merely an emotional event. Your various hormones, each with unique features to contribute, get in bed with you too. In a way, it’s as if there were a corporate decision going on here, with each chemical casting its vote. You may just find yourself outnumbered.
THE LOVE BRIGADE
Let me introduce you to some of the members of this battalion – these hormones and other substances that flow through our arteries and veins, wash over our brains, all the while manipulating our romantic sexual emotions,
DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
Pheromones
Oxytocin
PEA (phenethylamine)
Estrogen
Testosterone
Serotonin
Dopamine
Progesterone
Prolactin
Vasopressin
…