Not just ‘puppy love’! Teen relationships are actually the most intense of our lives, Oxford psychologist claims
- Dr Lucy Foulkes claims people shouldn’t be ‘lighthearted’ about school crushes
From ’10 Things I Hate About You’ to ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’ teen romances have been the stuff of blockbuster movies for years.
It’s often tempting to trivialize these kinds of romances as “puppy love.”
However, an Oxford psychologist argues that we need to take teenage relationships more seriously.
According to Dr Lucy Foulkes, the relationship between teenage love and the consequences of a breakup is often underestimated.
She says people should not make light of school crushes and the relationships that result from them, as for some they are the “most intense” of their lives.
From ’10 Things I Hate About You’ (pictured) to ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’ teen romances have been the centerpiece of blockbuster movies for years
It’s often tempting to trivialize teenage romances, such as those depicted in “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” as “puppy love.”
The academic psychologist from Oxford University said that for some, the effects of teenage heartbreak can last “a very long time” and should be taken more seriously.
On why the relationships feel so intense, she said: ‘It’s a time when we’re still forming our own identities. A big way of finding out who we are is by looking at the people around us, what they say about us and how they treat us.
‘And we incorporate that into the essence of who we think we are.
“So if you love someone who rejects you, that can become an integral part of your self-image and the way you understand yourself. That can last a very long time.”
The academic psychologist from Oxford University said that for some, the effects of teenage heartbreak can last “a very long time” and should be taken more seriously. Pictured: The Summer I Got Pretty
She added: ‘Take teenage love more seriously.
‘It’s often dismissed as puppy love or something like that, people are quite casual about it.
‘But actually, for some people it can be the most intense relationship of their lives, in good ways and bad.
“And I think it would be great if we could respect that a little bit more, both in terms of how much people like each other and how much they love each other, but also how painful it is when it goes wrong.”