Six different types of love you should know

Are you trying to figure out what type of love you have? 

If there is someone you have been feeling a strong connection towards and find yourself caring about their wellbeing chances are you might be developing some teen like crush towards them.

But how can you truly tell?

At the end of the day, you can feel a combination of different love for different people because we give and receive love differently.

To fully understand where you stand with that great guy you shouldn’t friend zone, or that pretty girl you can’t get your mind off, you need a deep sense of self-awareness to break down your feelings.

The key to a good relationship should start with how you feel about a particular person. Here are the different types of love according to the ancient Greeks you should know about.

Ludus

If your crush walks by and you can’t stop feeling giddy and butterflies in your stomach, you are experiencing the playful type of love.

Ludus is characterized by flirting, teasing, laughing and feelings of euphoria. This is the type of love that makes you feel alive and excited.

It is mostly common in the early stages of a relationship. If you have been in love this can be described as an infatuation in early days of romance.

Philautia

Different from narcissism where one focuses on vanity and self-obsession to gain fame and fortune at all costs, philautia is the healthy type of self-love.

It works on the basis that you can’t give what you don’t have and that in this case happens to be love. It starts by acknowledging your self-worth and personal needs for your well-being. 

The same way you show affection and compassion to others you do it to yourself too.

Mania

The worst you can get, this is the obsessive type of love that can be very dangerous and destructive even leading to crimes of passion.

If someone has low self-esteem and suffers from fear of losing that one thing they love most, this can drive them into jealousy and fits of anger leading to some crazy unimaginable deeds.

This unhealthy imbalance of affection is what you would find in a toxic relationship where one person becomes overly attached.

Eros

The passion, attraction and intoxicating emotions lovers go through in the initial stages of a relationship represent eros. It can be described as the desiring and sexual passion type of love.

This form of love arouses romantic and sexual feelings displayed physically by holding hands, kissing and hugging. When you see that person or your partner, your hormones rage and you desire their physical body.

This love may burn very hot but it burns out fast.

Storge

Not a physical or sexual type of love, it is a strong bond between two familiar people. It is the type of love you will find between children and parents or close friends.

It primarily has to do with love between kinship and emotional connection with people in your life who become close to you.

It is compassionate and protective in nature.

Pragma

Not easily found in this day and age we live in, this type of love is found between couples who have been married for a very long time and can still hold hands or friends who have held on to their friendship for decades. 

This type of love takes a lot of patience, tolerance and work from both parties to make it last. It is the enduring type of love that matures over time.