6 Feelings All People Who've Been In Love Have In Common

Love is often explained as something magical. It can make you feel happy, sad, excited or worried, sometimes all at once.

For some people, love is the best thing that has ever happened to them, but for others, it's something that has only caused pain and unhappiness.

That's because each person experiences love in a different way, and our feelings depend on who the love is for.

While we all love our parents, family members and friends, the love we experience when we find someone “special” is often very different from the love we feel for family and friends.

Here are six feelings you know very well if you've ever experienced that "special" kind of love:

1. Saudade

“Saudade” is a word that describes missing someone or something — a “feeling of longing.”

When you find a special partner whom you love, and you are apart — even for just a few hours — you will start to miss them. And that feeling will often be quite extreme the moment they leave.

As time goes by (even if they're only away for five or six hours), the feeling can gradually build up, causing you to long for your partner more and more.

2. Anxiety and depression

Not all of the emotions you feel when you're in love are happy. In fact, once you've been in love, you might be more familiar with anxiety and depression.

A study published in Scientific American reports that being apart from a partner you love dearly for a long period can actually increase stress levels.

Basically, the study found increased stress hormone levels in prairie voles when the males were separated from their female partners.

A different study found a similar effect in humans, and the increase in stress hormones caused participants to exhibit behavior associated with depression and anxiety.

Apart from feeling depressed when your partner is not with you, anxiety can also come into play when certain personal issues start to look like major obstacles.

For example, if a man experiences sexual dysfunctions, like premature ejaculation, he may feel increasingly anxious that the person he loves may not love him back because of these problems.

3. Attraction

There are many aspects of attraction — some of which science has explained — yet it is still a mysterious emotion unexplainable to some people.

You could stand in a crowd filled with very objectively attractive people, yet your eyes will only focus on the one person you're in love with. A combination of physical, emotional and sexual attraction causes this reaction.

Gaiam reports that physical attraction is based on a person's built-in instincts. For example, alpha men are usually naturally attracted to curvy women, and women are often attracted to alpha men who exhibit signs of high testosterone levels.

4. Feeling "good"

Many people say love makes them feel true happiness, but in reality, what they are feeling is “good.”

Happiness describes an emotion where only good feelings are present, and absolutely all bad feelings are absent.

Unfortunately, love doesn't come without bad feelings, so the “happy” feeling people experience is just a “good” feeling.

5. Better health

Yes, being in a healthy relationship and being in love can make you healthier – both physically and mentally.

Your Tango reports being in love can help you make some bigger changes in your life: getting rid of nasty habits, reducing your risk of having a heart attack, lowering your blood pressure levels, motivating you to exercise more and lose weight and even making you feel (and look) up to seven years younger.

6. Cravings

This one may seem weird, but love can make you crave in the same way people crave drugs. In fact, a recent study reports that a person's brain reaction to the sight of a lover is similar to their reaction to seeing drug they're addicted to.

Love can be awkward, exciting, depressing and much more all at the same time. It can make you experience a rush of different emotions simultaneously.

This is why it's called a magical emotion. And this magical emotion can lead to healthy relationships, happy marriages and the start of something new and exciting for two people.