What It Means When You Fall In Love Quickly

How many times have you fallen in love? Three? Four? You might be surprised that studies were launched to discover how often people fall in love on average. One of the most notable studies was by Siemens Festival Nights, which interviewed 2,000 people (via HuffPost). Their report suggests that the average person falls in love just two times.

Don't worry if these numbers bother you a little because another survey by Opera North found the answer to be double that: four (via Marie Claire). If you've fallen in love many more times than this, it might be a sign that you have emophilia — the tendency to fall in love quickly.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you enter healthy relationships that make you happy. Instead, it's a sign that you're in tune with your emotions and are able to articulate them. However, if this isn't the case in your relationships, you might be falling in love a little too quickly.

Anxious attachment is one of the four principles of the attachment theory, and it leads people to fall in love quickly. One significant telltale sign is a deep-rooted insecurity that causes a need for excessive reassurance because you believe you'll be dumped. This could make you stalk your partner, check their phone without cause, and develop other toxic behaviors.

If you fall in love quickly after having casual sex, it could signify that sex means much more to you than you admit. It's important to note that this is a perfectly normal reaction. Sex drives dopamine into your brain, and continuously associating a person with such happy feelings can add to your feelings for them.

Falling in love quickly could also be a sign that you seek out people that remind you of your parents and lovingly latch onto them. Jenni Skyler, a certified sex therapist, says this is because the person feels "familiar and safe," via Cosmopolitan.

Many people with emophilia ignore relationship red flags when they fall in love. This leads to toxic relationships and unhealthy "situationships." Another sign of falling in love too fast is saying "I love you" on first dates. While it is possible to fall in love deeply and truly on the first date, hindsight, as well as the results of the relationship, should reveal if you moved too fast.

For a relationship to be healthy, all parties must be comfortable with the pace. Moving too fast makes it hard to build any boundaries, which makes it easier to lose yourself. It also increases insecurities, especially if your partner doesn't want to move as fast. Falling too quickly also makes it hard to build a steady foundation that lasts the test of time.

If you fall in love too quickly and end up in less-than-ideal relationships, it might be better to put a pause on romance. Taking a break from dating is the perfect avenue to deal with your attachment issues, spend time working on yourself, and encourage self-love. Remember that it is impossible to love someone healthily if you do not love yourself.