Just one in a hundred British men suffer from Tom Cruise syndrome

• Friday, 17 November 2006

BRITISH MEN FALL FASTER AND HARDER IN LOVE THAN WOMEN
- PARSHIP’s Love Index reveals the side effects of falling in love -

- Just one in a hundred British men suffer from Tom Cruise syndrome – a need to go on and on about their new love to anyone who will listen!

- 30% of men say they fell in love on the first date

- 12% suffer from dizziness as a result

- 24% of men took time off work when they fell in love – 8 million working days lost

- 30% of men say their thinking became impaired

It’s official; British men fall in love faster than woman and they are more likely to suffer adverse physical side effects as a result, a new study has found. Dizziness, rashes and stomach aches were just some of the symptoms experienced by over 5000 people across Europe studied by online dating specialist PARSHIP – part of their European Love index.

One in three British men say they fell in love on the first date, with half, 47%, falling on date two and three. However, women showed much more caution with their hearts; just one in ten experiencing immediate love and 72% fell between date five and ten.

Love sickness

What’s more, PARSHIP’s Love Index study discovered that 63% of British men suffer adverse side effects (in other words, lovesickness), compared to 56% of men in other European countries. More than one in ten British men (12%) experienced dizziness, blotches and stomach ache as a consequence of falling in love. One in five (22%) experienced heart palpations, with their average resting heartbeat rising by 40% when viewing a photograph of their new flame. Nearly a third of men (30%) weren’t able to think clearly. Their sleep patterns were affected; they were unable to concentrate at work – productivity dropped by 20% – and 24% of men admitted to calling in sick.

The French – Tom Cruise Syndrome

While physical symptoms are most common among men from Britain, at the other end of the scale are Frenchmen – usually thought to be the most romantic in Europe. Only four out of ten, (42%) of the Frenchmen in the study suffered physical side effects. Frenchmen and women are ten times more likely to start to show Tom Cruise Syndrome. Around 6% of Frenchmen and 15% of Frenchwomen had alienated themselves from their friends and family by boring them with repetitive conversation about their new love. Just 1% of British men and women displayed any of this behaviour.

Dr Victoria Lukats, psychiatrist and PARSHIP.co.uk’s dating and relationship expert commented:

“The research clearly shows that men are likely to fall in love faster than women, but the question is why. It could be that men just make up their mind quicker than women in all sorts of areas whether it’s buying a new pair of jeans, deciding what to have for dinner, or who they want to spend the rest of their life with. However, the scientific explanation my simply come down biology. In prehistoric times men may have fathered a large number of children over their lifetime, whereas women were unable to do the same. A woman is investing a great deal in falling in love and potentially having a child with someone. In order to give her child (and her genes) the best possible chance of surviving into adulthood any small advantage can help. It could be seen as a safer gamble to take longer in weighing up a mates potential fathering ability before taking the plunge. This still applies to some extent in today’s society.”

“By our very nature as human beings, we are genetically programmed to fall in love. While nobody really knows why we fall in love, scientists think that the process helps couples to stay together for longer than it takes just to make a baby. The explanation for this could be that a child who is brought up with both parents taking an active interest might be more likely to survive into adulthood and then pass on the genes to future generations.”

“Most of us have experienced the sensation of falling in love, with butterflies in the stomach, nervous anticipation and that general warm fuzzy feeling – although sometime these effects can be more extreme. This is thought to be associated in part with a surge in the hormone oxytocin. Interestingly, this is the same hormone that is released when mothers are breast feeding and bonding with their babies. It is also released in the brain after an orgasm.”

Dr Victoria Lukats’s top tips to those who want to find happiness through love

- Make the most of yourself – on the inside and the outside.
- Widen your social circle and make sure you are regularly meeting new people.
- Appear open and confident when you first meet people.
- Date people who are compatible and similar to you in terms of personality, attitudes and outlook on life.
- Join an internet dating agency that matches people on compatible personality traits rather than looks alone, such as PARSHIP.co.uk.

- Ends -

For Further information, a copy of the research or case studies, please contact Penny Lukats on 020 7014 4046, 07775992350 or email penny@parship.co.uk

Notes to editors:

The European Singles Lifestyle Study - 5,800 singles, male and female, were interviewed in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. The research was coordinated and compiled by renowned German research institute, INNOFACT AG.

About Parship

PARSHIP is the Europe’s largest dating service dedicated to people who want to form a serious relationship. Founded in 2001, PARSHIP now has over 2 million active members and uses a unique scientific compatibility test, based on over 40 years of scientific research, to match people who have both similar and complementary personality traits – the requirements for a harmonious relationship. www.parship.co.uk, www.drlukats.com

PARSHIP GmbH, headquartered in Hamburg, is 87%-owned by Holtzbrinck networXs AG, part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group, one of Germany’s largest publishing companies with financial interests in more than 80 companies including the Macmillan Group

This press release was distributed via SourceWire, a service from Daryl Willcox Publishing, on behalf of PARSHIP GmbH. For more information visit http://www.dwpub.com/pressreleasewires