"Madly in love" teens really do go a bit mad

London: Teens who say that they are “madly in love” might really be telling you the truth - that they've gone a bit crazy.

The finding is based on a study by researchers at the Psychiatric University Clinics in Basel led by Serge Brand.

The researchers came to this conclusion after studying the questionnaires of 113 teenagers of around 17 years of age, who were asked to answer questions on their conduct and mood, as well as to keep a log of their sleep patterns.

Of all the teens, 65 indicated that they had recently fallen in love, reports New Scientist.
These 65 teens showed many behaviours resembling 'hypomania' - a less intense form of mania.
The researchers found that these teens not only needed an hour less sleep each night, but were also more likely to report acting compulsively.

60 per cent of the teens revealed that they spent too much money, as compared to the 30 per cent of teens not in love.

Teens in love were also more likely to have more ideas and creative energy, as well as indulging in risky behaviour like driving too fast.

“We were able to demonstrate that adolescents in early-stage intense romantic love did not differ from patients during a hypomanic stage,” the journal quoted the researchers, as saying.
These findings also led the researchers to conclude that puppy love in teens is a “psychopathologically prominent stage”. The researchers also suggest that psychiatrists take this information into account when assessing adolescent patients.