These days, it seems there’s a pill for everything, so it was only a matter of time before someone invented a pill that would help prevent broken hearts. Researchers are working on a proposed pill that would enhance the same hormones that are released when people fall in love, helping to keep the connection in couples strong long after the honeymoon period ends by “creating a fear of separation” (sounds healthy!). Billed the “cuddle pill” or the “love pill,” this particular drug would contain “‘cuddle chemicals’ oxytocin and vasopressom, hormones that are naturally occurring in high levels at the beginning of a relationship.”
Researchers liken the drug to a low-dose ecstasy, which has been said to “improve connection and sociability by creating a feeling of openness and desire for closeness.” (It’s also been said to scramble people’s brains.)
So, would you take this so called ‘love pill’ if it increased your connection with your significant other and perhaps saved you from breaking up?
[via Belfast Telegraph]
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bittergaymark May 7, 2012, 12:18 pm
If you need a pill to save your marriage it probably isn’t worth saving…
I dunno. Maybe if kids were involved… Maybe.
a_different_Wendy May 7, 2012, 12:36 pm
Disagree. Sometimes people just need those ‘love chemicals’ to give them that extra push to start communicating again.
ktfran May 7, 2012, 12:50 pm
But if they recognize the relationship is waning, why do they need to take a pill to start communicating again? Why not, in fact, start communicating and work on the problem? It might not be as easy as taking a little love concoction, but relationships shouldn’t always be easy. How do you grow otherwise? Also, as others have said, what happens when the pill effects wear off? And if you’re feeling the love again, why would you really take the time to work on your problems?
FireStar May 7, 2012, 12:59 pm
I’m with you Mark. If you need that pill – you actually need way more than that pill can do for you. So you take the pill and then what happens? You pray the mail-man doesn’t knock on the door and ‘redirect’ all that cuddling before your spouse gets home?
Michelle.Lea May 7, 2012, 2:01 pm
I have to agree… if you are aware enough to realize something is missing, and you want to do something about it, why not plan a trip away? reconnect in other ways.
A pill to me should be the very very last resort. And well, if you’re taking a pill, is it ‘real’ love again? or is it simply manufactured?
Kristina May 7, 2012, 12:19 pm
I don’t know, I think pharmaceutical researchers need to stop playing God and try to create a pill or a fix for everything.
Leroy May 7, 2012, 12:21 pm
So you’ll be high all the time, and then you’ll go broke, but you’ll be in love, or at least terrified of letting go. They should call it ‘young love’.
Fabelle May 7, 2012, 12:25 pm
I’d take it, but not as a last-ditch-effort to save my relationship thing. I’d do it in a healthy relationship to see what happens (I’d rather not half-ass it, though & just take ecstasy instead :))
evanscr05 May 7, 2012, 12:36 pm
Sound a little bit like a love potion. As soon as it wears off, where does that leave me? Personally, I’d rather my spouse’s feelings of affection for me be legit, otherwise I think I’d become paranoid wondering if its false love or not.
bethany May 7, 2012, 12:40 pm
No, I wouldn’t take it. My relationship doesn’t need it, and I try to take as few medications/drugs as possible!!
CatsMeow May 7, 2012, 12:40 pm
How could you stop it from making you fall in love with or feel attached to someone other than your partner? How often would you have to take it? What happens if only one partner takes it? Could you take it to PREVENT the growing apart that happens with time? Doesn’t sex produce these chemicals naturally? So many questions.
evanscr05 May 7, 2012, 12:42 pm
Could lead to some very interesting excuses should someone stray, as well. “Oh, honey, it wasn’t me, it was the cuddle pill that made me do it!”
AnotherWendy May 7, 2012, 2:28 pm
I was thinking same thing, will it make you want to be cuddly with everyone in you interact with?!
rachel May 7, 2012, 12:52 pm
Hmm, it seems like this would just open up the possibility of someone slipping their boyfriend a pill to keep them around.
TaraMonster May 7, 2012, 12:10 pm
Brave New World, much?
cporoski May 7, 2012, 1:40 pm
I WAS JUST THINKING THAT!!!!! That is one of my favorite books.
TaraMonster May 7, 2012, 4:08 pm
Love that book! Maybe it’s just because I was poppin’ Soma pills while I read it though. 😉
rainbow May 7, 2012, 1:18 pm
Oh dear. This is awful. There are already enough people in relationships that are not meant to be.
I guess the summer of love of drink-spiking is about to begin.
redessa May 7, 2012, 1:25 pm
Eh, I could see trying it just for the fun of it. I’ve been married FOREVER with a bunch of kids. My husband I are great partners in pretty much every area but let’s be honest, the romantic spark could stand a little push now and again. So while I wouldn’t consider something like this to save a relationship that’s going down the drain, I could see it as a fun boost to an otherwise solid relationship.
Michelle.Lea May 7, 2012, 3:36 pm
this is the only time i’d ever try it. just for fun! like getting a little tipsy or something.. but not as a serious fix..
Lolo Sinks May 7, 2012, 4:56 pm
Yeah I agree…Only as a fun experiment when you’re already in a stable relationship.
ele4phant May 7, 2012, 2:53 pm
I really feel like our culture relies on pharmaceuticals too much. A pill to improve your relationship and feelings towards your partner? How about actually putting in the effort yourself to sustain your relationship? I really dislike the idea of an “easy fix”, or worse, medicating yourself for something that’s not really a problem at all.
Temperance May 7, 2012, 3:23 pm
I absolutely agree.
Temperance May 7, 2012, 3:22 pm
Absolutely not. I’d rather work on my relationship instead of drugging myself (or Mr. Temperance) in order to have positive feelings. It works.
Temperance May 7, 2012, 3:23 pm
There’s no I in Timocyl, at least not where you’d think ….
Budj May 7, 2012, 5:00 pm
Band-aid fix that doesn’t solve the root problems = bad. BAD BAND-AID!
SpaceySteph May 7, 2012, 5:50 pm
The problem, in my opinion, is how we are taught to believe that there needs to be this spark and passion for a relationship to be a good one.
Cuddle pills are replicating that new love feeling so you don’t have to grow up and have your relationship change. Let’s instead strike the fairy tale/rom com delusion down in favor of real life functional relationships and then people won’t need cuddle pills to keep their relationship going.
sypher798 May 8, 2012, 3:07 pm
Um, No.
nikki May 12, 2012, 7:06 pm