Lovesickness

Lovesickness is the mental state brought on by the personal experience of unfulfilled, unconsummated, or unrequited love.

Lovesickness is a feature of infatuated love or limerence (being irrationally love stricken or smitten), and included under broad labels of romantic love and passionate love. Erotomania has also been included under the heading of lovesickness. A further related term is "obsessive love".

This state of longing for an unavailable beloved is characterized by addictive cravings, depression and intrusive thoughts about a love object. Research on the biology of romantic love indicates that the early stage of intense romantic love resembles addiction, but academics do not currently agree on how love addiction is defined. Lovesickness is not mentioned in modern medical texts, although historically it was considered a medical entity.

Lovesickness is widespread among adolescents: reportedly 33–53% had experienced problems with it, or even as many as 82%, in different studies.

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