Biggest Benefits of Love

Especially around Valentine’s Day, society has put a lot of pressure on us to make purchases we don’t need or want, or that are completely irrelevant to showing someone how much we love them. Plus — try finding a card that matches how you feel if your relationship is less than perfect. Stressful.

Feb. 14 can be a day that many prefer comes and goes quickly.

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Still, countless Americans are celebrating the love they feel for each other this Valentine’s Day. We might learn something from them — because the benefits of unconditional love can improve our own overall health as well as that of the nation.

Oxytocin, the so-called “feel good hormone,” is released when we experience emotions associated with love — and not just romantic feelings. It works with all types of love, even with pets, CBN News reported. Oxytocin acts on the pleasure center of the brain and is released through things like a hug as well as through emotional intimacy.

When we practice love versus perpetual misplaced anger, rage, and protest between either two people or a society, it improves our mood and increases our tolerance for pain.

“Being in a loving relationship boosts self-esteem, which has its own set of benefits physically, mentally and emotionally,” said one psychotherapist.

We also benefit from lower stress; lower blood pressure; fewer heart attacks; less anxiety, stress, and depression; faster healing; and increased immune function. People who exhibit positive emotions are also less likely to get sick after exposure to cold or flu viruses, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Perhaps the biggest benefit, said Monte Drenner, a licensed psychotherapist from Orlando, Florida, is that being in a loving relationship significantly boosts self-esteem, which has its own set of benefits physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“There are several things we as a society can learn about the benefits of love,” Drenner told LifeZette. “Most important is that love covers a multitude of sins. Every couple I see considering divorce struggles with forgiving each other. Sin divides, but love reconciles. My prayer is that as a society we can understand this principle and take actions to be more loving and forgiving.”

Related: What Unconditional Love Means for Our Minds

Loneliness is considered a major life stressor — and stress is at the core of a number of chronic conditions.

“The best place to start is by focusing on giving love, not receiving it,” CBN News reported. “You don’t even have to spend money. The truth is, every day should be a day of love. Valentine’s Day is just a great reminder that we should be more loving to all the people in our lives.”