why are situation ships addictive? . #human #brain #edu #situationships

Situationships are scientifically more addictive than real relationships and the reason will scare you. When you are in a real relationship your partner shows you love consistently every single day. So your brain knows exactly when affection is coming and how much of it you will get. That predictability feels safe but it actually keeps your dopamine levels low and steady because your brain stops getting excited about something it already expects. Situationships do the complete opposite. The person disappears for days, then suddenly sends you a message at midnight then ignores you for a week, then acts like nothing happened. Every time they come back, your brain releases a massive spike of dopamine, the same chemical that gets released during cocaine use, and the unpredictability of when it will happen makes that spike even stronger. Scientists call this intermittent reinforcement and it is the exact same mechanism that makes slot machines impossible to walk away from. Your brain literally cannot tell the difference between someone giving you inconsistent attention and pulling the lever on a slot machine waiting to wear brain scans confirm that romantic obsession activates the same regions of the brain as heroin and cocaine addiction.