Romantic love is perhaps the most familiar example of dopamine disappointment. When people are “in love,” they don’t realize they are riding high on the dopamine of a long quest. But the same old reward does not excite dopamine forever. It dips, and then unhappy chemicals get your attention. You may blame the bad feeling on your partner. You may think your partner is “not who she used to be.” You may even decide that a new partner would make you happy, because the last new partner triggered a surge that built a pathway. But if you seek the excitement of new love all the time, you may create a
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