Is love like a drug?

2) Write your own persuasive argument using rhetorical devices to convince an audience. Choose any topic that interests you, and write a speech or editorial that employs logos, pathos, and ethos

Love is like a drug due to the fact that it gives a chemical high; has the potential to become an addiction; is perceived to be a good thing despite multiple side affects such as becoming distracted easily, having extreme emotions, and a lack of clarity and logic that results in impaired decision making skills; stimulates certain parts of the brain; can cause a person to grow dependent on their lover; and slight personality shifts. When someone is in love, they get the same sensations as someone on cocaine. “The reason people are so attracted to cocaine is that it activates the area of the brain that makes you feel good,” researcher Arthur Aron, PhD, tells WebMD. “The same reward area is activated when people are experiencing the intense desire of romantic love." If a person can become addicted to cocaine, then why can they not become addicted to love considering that they both wield a similar result? The answer is, they can. "Romantic relationships can lead to the addiction of a specific person such as being obsessed with thinking of that person all the time and the capacity for risk-taking to get to that person. These behaviors are thought to reflect those of someone who is addicted to a drug. The same brain chemicals — large amounts of dopamine and norepinpherine — and the same brain pathways and structures are active when in love, and when being high on crack cocaine. Therefore, this leads to the belief that addictive drugs affect the brain in ways similar to love, Marsh says, which can help explain the painful, withdrawal-like symptoms of a breakup" (Oxytocin).
Like every medicine commercial that plays, there is always that dreaded list of side affects. In a fictional book titled Delirium, the author created a dystopian world that was similar to ours save for the fact that love was considered a disease that must be treated. The one thing that was not fictional about the first installment of the trilogy , however, was her list of symptoms. “Symptoms of Amor Deliria Nervosa
PHASE ONE:
-preoccupation; difficulty focusing
-dry mouth
-perspiration, sweaty palms
-fits of dizziness and disorientation
-reduced mental awareness; racing thoughts; impaired reasoning skills
PHASE TWO:
-periods of euphoria; hysterical laughter and heightened energy
-periods of despair; lethargy
-changes in appetite; rapid weight loss or weight gain
-fixation; loss of other interests
-compromised reasoning skills; distortion of reality
-disruption of sleep patterns; insomnia or constant fatigue
-obsessive thoughts and actions
-paranoia; insecurity
PHASE THREE (CRITICAL):
-difficulty breathing
-pain in the chest, throat or stomach
-complete breakdown of rational faculties; erratic behavior; violent thoughts and fantasies; hallucinations and delusions
PHASE FOUR (FATAL):
-emotional or physical paralysis (partial or total)
-death
If you fear that you or someone you know may have contracted deliria, please call the emergency line toll-free at 1-800-PREVENT to discuss immediate intake and treatment.”
This list of symptoms is realistic but most would laugh at the idea of love being a disease. It is seen as a beautiful thing to most and yet, could it possible be a socially acceptable form of insanity? Perhaps the world will never know. What the world can rely on, though, is facts.
Romantic love activates in the caudate nucleus, via a flood of dopamine at the sight of their loved ones. This means that a person becomes very happy upon seeing the people they love. The more a person is in love, the more tolerable they are to pain. Oxytocin is released while a person is in love and is a vital part of making a deep connection with the person they love. It also triggers the release of domaine when a person feels as if they have found their partner for life. People can often grow dependant on the person they are romantically involved with and substitute that person's emotions with their own. This results in a relationship where even the slightest hurtful remark can cause an extreme reaction from the dependee. The depended either do not realize that this is occurring or, if their love is morally off, they take advantage of the dependee. It's a tough situation because the dependee often times does not realize that this is happening without outside intervention.
Because of the high risk emotional situation that love lives in, people are often different after being in a relationship. The experiences a person has with their lover are highly emotional and, as a result, are much more memorable than an average date. If a relationship is hurtful, a person may have a much more negative outlook on life when it ends. However, a person may argue that people are constantly changing based on their own experiences and that love is just one of these. Both of these are true. While love is one of many experiences that shapes a person's personality, it is also one that has a very large affect on who the person may become one day.