Exercise, diet and an overall healthy lifestyle are three components most will agree are necessary to achieve wellness.
One component not typically associated with health and wellness is love. But does love and the act of loving actually impact our emotional and overall health for the better? Is it just as important as diet and exercise? Experts say yes.
For Stephen Harrison, the question is a simple one to answer.
“We need love to survive emotionally and mentally,” says Harrison, senior medical officer for Researching Health. “Love is what makes us feel connected to other people and what makes us feel happy and fulfilled.”
Matt Langdon, chief of wellness and mental health with The Great Brain Experiment, agrees and says love is “essential for both physical and mental health.”
“Research shows that,” Langdon says. “People who are in loving relationships are more likely to have lower blood pressure, heart rates and less stress. They also tend to recover more quickly from illness and surgery.”
Licensed psychologist Nicholas B. Bach went as far as to say people need to love and be loved to survive.
“Love is an act of empathy and compassion,” Bach says. “It’s the willingness to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, even if it’s just for a moment. It’s also the willingness to forgive and forget.”
Bach believes love can be defined in many ways, but at its core it’s about feeling connected to the person.
“We can love someone even when they’re doing things that make us angry or hurt us,” Bach says. “We can still feel connected to them and care for them. That’s because we understand their feelings and motivations. We love them despite their flaws.”
Not only does licensed clinical social worker Steve Carleton believe people need to love and be loved, he says it is an essential part of being human.
“Love is a powerful emotion that gives us purpose, connection and meaning,” he says. “When we love and are loved by someone, we feel understood, accepted, and secure. This connection can give us a sense of belonging and contentment that we often struggle to achieve on our own.”
Carleton supports the theory that love helps an individual to grow emotionally and spiritually.
“Loving another person allows us to have empathy for the struggles they are going through and practice compassion toward them,” he says. “We begin to appreciate different perspectives, learn to accept imperfections and become more patient. Through loving another person, we can also gain insight into our own strengths and weaknesses, helping us both understand and accept ourselves better.”
A common question asked is whether love is an act or an idea. Kalley Hartman, a California-based marriage and family therapist states it can be both.
“We show our love for others through how we act toward them, and this can manifest itself in various ways: physically, emotionally, verbally and so on,” she says. “On the other hand, love is also a powerful concept that helps us form strong connections and relationships, elevating our emotional state.”
Hartman is a strong proponent that love is essential.
“The answer is a resounding yes,” she says. “Love is essential for our mental well-being. Studies have shown that love plays an important role in human development and can provide comfort, security and stability to our lives. Furthermore, love helps build strong relationships, encourages empathy and compassion, and contributes to our happiness and self-confidence.”
Love has several different dynamics. Mental health expert and licensed counselor Megan Tangradi notes love can be between partners, between parent and child and between friends. In a relationship between two partners, Tangradi says there is typically an emphasis on mutual respect and understanding. For a parent to child relationship, the focus is on nurturing and protecting, while with friends there is usually an emphasis on trust, loyalty, fun times and mutual understanding.
“Love is an emotion that binds us to others and can be many-faceted,” she says. “It can include both physical and emotional components, and it involves trust, admiration, respect, patience and acceptance.”
Licensed social worker Candace Kotkin-De Carvalho explains the love between partners is often thought of as romantic love, but it can have a much deeper emotional connection.
“Partner relationships are built on mutual trust and respect, and involve an exchange of giving and taking from both people to maintain the bond,” she says.
As the love between a parent and child involves both guidance and structure, it plays an important role in our later relationships, according to Kotkin-De Carvalho.
“Familial love is often unconditional and provides us with security, stability and emotional support,” she says. “All things that are essential for our mental health and well-being.”
Psychologist Raffaello Antonino circled back to the idea that love has a positive impact on our overall health.
“Love is an integral part of our lives and impacts our physical, mental and emotional well-being,” he says. “The act of loving another person or being loved in return can have a profound effect on us both as individuals and in relationships. Love, in the sense of giving and receiving affection, mediates and supports the development of a baby’s brain, as well as the extent of our adjustment to society and our ability to form and maintain meaningful relationships when we become adults.
“Love is a powerful emotion which can have profound positive effects and helps us connect with the people around us and build meaningful relationships.”
