Infatuation - What it really is?

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Evaluation of  infatuation


Definition :
Sudden decrease in intellect and thinking capacity due to an unreasonable desire to be with someone who is a newfound object of interest.
AKA as Limerance, the afflicted patient is also called Limerent.


Causes:
Idiopathic
Need for attention
Need for excitement
Loneliness
Need for validation
Need of a stress buster

Clinical features:
Smiling for no reason 
Dreamy eyed
Euphoria
Insomnia😲
Decreased appetite
Erratic behavior, and irrationality
Special affinity to romantic songs.


On examination:

  •   Pupils dilated on seeing crush 👀– Sympathetic stimulation of the adrenergic receptors causing contraction of the radial muscle
  •     Blushing 😶 due to activation of sympathetic nervous system causing blood vessels to dilate, flooding the skin with blood

  •  Tachycardia 💓 (transient) when crush passes by. So, if you feel your heart skip a beat, you might have been shot with Cupid’s arrow. Or you might need a cardiologist.
  •   Foot 👢 always pointed in direction of crush


Investigations:

  •    Dopamine raised - activates reward circuit
  •  Norepinephrine raised- fight or flight response
  •    Oxytocin raised – bonding hormone
  •   Serotonin decreased - involved in appetite, mood and obsessive thinking.

⛑Brain scans- brain regions show activity in the caudate nucleus, a region associated with reward detection and expectation.

Treatment:
General Management
1. Reciprocation
Some patients get cured when the person they are interested in, reciprocates the interest.
Studies have also found out that the severity of infatuation greatly subsides as the certainty of reciprocity grows.

2. Starvation
A lack of any notice causes  desensitization of the infatuation. This desensitization may take a long time, where latent hypersensitivity may cause the least attention given, to be interpreted as a reason for hope, causing a resurgence of interest.

3. Transference
The limerent transfers their romantic feelings to another person, thereby ending the initial attraction.

 Definitive treatment

Mild cases – Tablet FriendZone 1 BD 💊
IM injection Rejection 1:10 ( 5 ml diluted in 50 ml of dextrose) 💉
For refractory cases – DIT ( Disillusionment Intensive therapy)

Note: Some sporadic cases may resolve spontaneously after Marriage 👰Immune response mediated by interleukins.


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