Knowing you're in love feels different for everyone. Some have been in love often and know the feeling well, and others may be not so sure if it's love or just a deep infatuation.
Luckily, your body has some pretty sneaky ways of tipping you off to whether these feelings for your partner are more than just a passing phase. Keep an eye out for these tell-tale signs the next time you catch yourself wondering if you're actually in love.
You can't stop staring at them.
If your partner has ever caught you staring at them lovingly, it could be a sign that you're head over heels. Eye contact means that you're fixated on something, so if you find that your eyes are fixed on your partner, you may just be falling in love.
Studies have also found that couples who lock eyes report feeling a stronger romantic connection than those who don't. It goes the other way too: when a study had strangers lock eyes for minutes at a time, they reported romantic feeling towards each other.
You feel like you're high.
It's completely normal to feel out of your mind when falling for someone.
A study from the Kinsey Institute found that the brain of a person falling in love looks the same as the brain of a person who has taken cocaine. You can thank dopamine, which is released in both instances, for that feeling.
This is a good explanation for why people in new relationships can act absolutely nonsensically.
You always think about them.
If you love someone, you may feel like you can't get them off of your mind. That's because your brain releases phenylethylamine, aka the "love drug" when you fall in love with someone. This hormone creates the feeling of infatuation with your partner.
You may be familiar with the feeling because phenylethylamine is also found in chocolate, which may explain why you can't stop after just one square.
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