Birds are singing, the air is sweet, outfits are lighter and café terraces are overrun. We want happiness, we dream of love. But why now?
- Spring coincides with an increased desire for romantic relationships.
- There are biological as well as psychological explanations.
- Serotonin, melatonin and testosterone are three hormones that contribute to this rise in desire.
Is desire reborn in spring or do we want to fall in love at this time? Is it the body that rejoices, biologically influenced, or the brain that rises in the towers like the sap with each new season? Bears and groundhogs wake up, just like humans. There is indeed a possible biological explanation:It seems that the change in spring is mainly due to the light factor”explains clinical sexologist Bruno Martin(1). The expert also cites an influx of melatonin and serotonin, which can de-fatigue or wake people up, making them more willing to start new projects, especially when faced with scantily clad bodies.
Hormones involved: serotonin, melatonin and testosterone
Serotonin, a brain chemical messenger with recognized antidepressant effects, is involved in functions as diverse as sleep and sexuality. It comes from tryptophan, an amino acid with relaxing effects.
Serotonin also plays another important role: it is used to make melatonin, an active hormone that regulates sleep and increasesyou desire, as several studies have shown.
Finally, in the spring, people dress more lightly. Men are particularly sensitive to visual stimuli. Bare skin, bare shoulders, exposed thighs will cause an increase in testosterone levels in the blood.
The male hormone, also known as the desire hormone, settles in the brain, activating several areas of desire. Exposure to this type of stimulation (as in erotic films or sexual fantasies) leads to an increase in testosterone and therefore the desire to have sex. On the other hand, when a woman dresses more lightly, she feels more attractive.
A difference between humans and animals
Animals reproduce according to a specific mating schedule, the goal is to procreate at the best time of the year for the offspring to survive. In humans, nothing of the sort and sex is most often disconnected from reproduction. Everyone has sex when it suits them, winter, summer, spring…”Biology probably plays a little on the major trends of the species and the awakening of love in the spring, admits Professor Michel Reynaud, psychiatrist and author of the book ‘Love is a soft drug in general’ (Ed. Robert Laffont). But I believe just as much in sensoriality and in a psychological explanation.”
The rebirth of spring
In spring, the days get longer and it is easier to go out in the evening, as if it were necessary to get out of winter, escape from the apartments, breathe, meet and open up to others…
The stimuli combine, adds the doctor. “Colours, scents, tastes and sounds explode in spring. Women dress in brighter and more attractive tones. Light skirts, mojitos on the terrace, music late at night… All of this together makes that the possibilities of meetings increase, concludes the psychiatrist. The miracle of spring is here.”
(1)Review Sexology, April 29, 2014
