Love In Crime

Love is an unusual part of the human psyche, we do not need it to survive nor do we really even need it to procreate but it is something that we all have felt or at least have some notion of. Love can lift you to the heights of your life or completely destroy somebody’s basis mentality.

The brain of somebody who is in love does not look too dissimilar to that of somebody on cocaine. Cocaine acts on the pleasure centres in the brain by lowering the thresh hold in which they fire which means you feel really good a much easier, we see the same effects in the brain of somebody who is in love this causes a person to create a romanticised view of the world around them, feeling pain and sadness less and joy and happiness more. Both after orgasm or just observing pictures of a loved one there is a surge of dopamine and norepinephrine coming from the ventral tegmental area. This is what causes arousal and gives you the motivation, craving and desire to spend time with someone more and more as if like an addiction. Romantic love is more than a simple emotion it’s a drive from the motor of the mind and this brings focused attention, energy and elation. Love also causes a surge in the neural modulator oxytocin from the nucleus accumbens also known as the commitment neuromodulator as it helps to rein force bonding and attachment, the body also lowers the level of serotonin similar to people with OCD this what might cause our obsession with the person and all of these chemicals can stay active for decades.

By now I can assume you are wondering how all of this relates to crime but before we go into the details we have to begin with my realisation of how strong the bond of two people can affect the way someone react and responds to the situation they or their spouse are in. On a previous case I worked on concerning domestic abuse the husband broke his wife’s nose in the middle of the street as she lay there in floods of tears and blood streaming down her face the police arrive due to a well-timed phone call as she saw the two men walking towards her she leapt to her feet and began spinning an elaborate lie about how she fell and hit her head on the curb. This shows partially the extend people will go to for their loved one, she protected a man she has every reason to hate. This phenomena can also be more extreme in outcome in the case of Fred and Rose west in 1994 between the two of them the murdered over thirteen people, Rose assisted him in tying, beating and suffocating Fred’s victims.

So in summary love is a strange and unpredictable part of the human condition, it is a game with no rules and is not a game you can choose to play, so be careful who you fall in love with as your new romanticized view of the world could get you into trouble.