Touch

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_407000/407125.stm



Falling madly in love may really make you mentally ill, according to Italian scientists.



Their research found emotional and biological similarities between people in love and those suffering from a psychiatric disorder, says a report in New Scientist magazine. Psychiatrist Donatella Marazziti, of the University of Pisa, noticed how lovesick youngsters` one-track thoughts mirrored those of people with a mental illness called obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).



OCD sufferers experience nagging, anxious thoughts and feel compelled to repeat tasks such as washing their hands and tidying up.



In 1990, Dr Marazziti found OCD was linked to lower levels of the brain chemical serotonin, which affects people`s moods.



But she was struck by how sufferers` obsessive emotions recalled those of people newly in love, who often praise their loved ones wit and beauty for hours on end.



When she and her team compared serotonin levels between 20 lovesick Italian students and 20 people with OCD, they discovered both groups had similarly low levels of the brain chemical.



Obsession aids evolution



`It is often said that when you`re in love, you`re a little bit crazy,` said Dr Marazziti. `That may be true.`



University of California psychiatrist Hagop Akiskal, one of the research team, suggested this obsessive behaviour may be linked to evolution.



Without intense emotion, he said no-one in their `right` mind would fall in love and have children.



But the study found the first flush of love does not last as emotions settle down.



When the researchers tested the students a year later, they found their serotonin levels had returned to normal and their obsession with their partners had died down.



The search for love



Lucy Selleck, a counsellor for marriage guidance group Relate, said people can become blinded by love and make unwise decisions.



`It seems for some people the feeling of falling in love is quite addictive,` she said.



`When it levels off it`s a bit of a let down so they go off seeking it again and again.`



But Vicki Carr, a consultant with dating agency Drawing Down the Moon, said some find the search for love frustrating.



`The people we deal with want to experience the madness of falling in love but it is not really happening.`

So I`m sitting here listening to Jon Secada, reading this poem, and i`m thinking hmm, what does she want to capture? The essence of what is love? What its like? Did she succeeed? My personal opinion, YES. Because when you reflect on it, the moments in love that are the most carelessly spent in your lover`s company without a care are the very ones you remember fondly when its over. So yeah, Zehra you did a good job of picking some of those up. Its the everyday, the trivial, mundane, the taken-for-granted times that make up what is love when you think back on it.

As for `the nature of love?`, its fickle, changeable, thats what makes people ALIVE. The promise of never-forever is what makes it fun. Its the tantilization that cms from non-commitment that keeps it interesting. Heart break can be a damper but it goes with the territory. But hey, its not discouraging, afterall who wrote the silly rule that you gotta spend your life with one person even if they no longer make you happy? Thats Cultural-religio-traditional b.s that gets stuffed into people`s heads, nothing more. So be happy, get over it and move on, because life is short and precious. Unless, you`re the type who like spending time at the scence of car accidents/wrecks taking photographs of mangled bodies, twisted fenders and watching, observing, without participating in the tragedy itself, in a detached manner, trying to relate/empathize, consciously, with an awareness that its not you in the wreck so you really can`t ever possibly UNDERSTAND and FEEL for what happened there emotionally. But every writer/poet wants desperately to feel, to capture that feeling in words and prose. Its a never ending quest really. But this is not a bad shot a doing exactly that, since its personal, obviously its easier to feel it. liked it.

Omar

feroz,

ah..my mistake :)

i would laff but its not funny. i hate getting into relationships and usually we end up hurting each other. i have had only one where i havent and he is one of my closest friends ( we are thinking of making a trip up to your part of the world..will keep you posted) i wish relationships didnt have that hurt factor. love...kya hai yaar? one day you love a person will all your might and the next day you find it doesnt fit anymore. got me to question myself..was i the flimsy one? or is that just the nature of love? you asked before if this was blush of a first affair..nah..its not innocent enough. i should try to capture that innocence but i find it to be too private to share. a first love is something too sacred..ESP for chowk.

rizvi

ohhhhhhhhhhh, i get it now dat i read it twice..i luv it..u go gurl

wat da hell was dat????this poem makes me feel slow..plz dont do dat 2 me chowk writers..kehe..im jus kiddin,,i thought it was pretty coo eventho i dont get it..kehe..luv yall..muah

`What is it about us, that makes us, us?`

That is the single-most awful line I have read in a long long time. The poetic intensity of sensibility withers and all I complain about is irony- or its lack. I think I am more confused- and amused, I must add- about your neologisms. Laughing!

AAHAIn, SHIKWAY, AUR NAMAK KA DANA

Mohtarmi Janaab GlennFerozovichKhanov:

Baad aadaab, arz hay kay aap ka is waqt Pakistan jana bohat naa-munasib hoga. Aap Fateh Fauj aur bahadur Afwaaj kay baray maiN jo likh rahaiN haiN oos say donouN campoN maiN aap kay dushmanouN ki taadaad barh rahi hay. Humaray ISI kay mole nay ek bulletin ki kapy humaiN bhayjee hay. Aap ki khidmat maiN hazir hay.

A.P.B.

Ref # PK786/990810/Chowk/Badmash/Feroz

To: All staff and officers at the border check posts.

Please look out for a 5-8, darkskinned, bespectacled, Pakistani male, possible carrying a Canadian or American Passport, short hair with shades of gray, with a permanent smirk, hanging out of left lips. When apprehended, please ensure no bones are broken. If force is used leave no marks on hands or face. Or you may be transferred to Thar. The said indiividual speaks broken Gujrati, Urdu and Punjabi. His English accent is a mix of Grammarian pseudo English half baked with Canadian and Mid western English. Further details are posted on the Entry Control List, rev 08/10. When apprehended seize his luggage. Do not touch any papers or computer disks. Dispatch them with haste to the same room we readied for Najam Sethi.



On a lighter note: you broke us up with the daily dose of femme fatale.



khairiyat ka du`a go,

temporal

Re: Zehra # 13

You miss understood me, Z! I meant to compare notes so we could both laugh together at just how silly these games can get!!!!!

As to my femme d`jour, she is a reminder why I stopped playing these games a long time ago and why I am thinking of returning to Pakistan this fall.

I can`t stand her any more!!!

re: daring. sweat can be sexy.

re: feroz. i have a feeling comparing notes is not a good idea. i have awful luck when it comes to men. either im with no one ( and happier for it) or i have them crawling out of my ears.

re: slink. the next time i come will be for my Masters research, i think. if i dont change my mind on that one. the idea has stayed in my head for about a month now so i think its safe to assume that i will continue to give it a safe haven there.

re: rehan. touche.

rizvi

Re: Subcontinental #128

In part, my reply to Kant Patel covers issues you have raised as well. I will repeat that it was not illegal, immoral or unethical for the Pakistani government to claim that its troops were not involved in Kargil.

Similarly, while on a moral level I would deplore any violence against civilians anywhere, I don`t think that you can make the case that RAW or the ISI exploding bombs in each other`s capitals while denying all responsibility is ipso facto against the respective national interests. It all depends upon the circumstances.

What is the international law, i.e., treaties accepted by both Pakistan and India, on terrorism? Would acts such as these be covered? Or, would they be OK if we declare war on each other first?

Regards.

Re: zehra

``it is love..isnt it amazing that we can love on so many levels and love so many people in so many different ways. how ya been?``

It is amazing. I also think that different people have differing capacities TO love. Some are clearly more capable of it than are others. This only becomes visible in time and sometimes in hindsight.

You seem quite capable yourself. :)

I`ve been and am good. Thx for asking.

-!Kamran!-

p.s. Have to tell you something...when I read and responded initially to your poem, it was 3 AM on Sunday morning. I was at a friend`s house and on another plane when I came across it. It put the biggest smile on my face.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

Re: Zehra

Welcome back! Zehra, what brought this about...sounds like the first blush of an affair?

I think the two of us should compare notes, because I am in a similar situation at the present time and if everything goes as planned, she will go back to her x and I will end up wondering, ``what was I thinking about?``

dear zehra,

LOL
i did my best to read it aloud with a come hither smile :))

theres nothing like a woman who isn`t afraid to use her greatest weapon...that would be the power to love.

please do let me know when you come to karachi next, i think we have a lot to share with each other (meant to be read with a raised eyebrow and a smirk)

shandana

``my sweat cools you down``

Yukh!

re: rehan

very touched..

shall i send more?

you were my first for that kind of impulsive behavior.

rizvi