UNIT 18

1	Human beings especially need to love and be loved.  Like many other animals, we are born unable to look after ourselves.  But we must spend a much longer time than other animals do in the care of adults, growing and learning.  And it is not enough just to be fed and clothed and sheltered.  In order to do well, we must also be loved. 
2	Many studies have shown that love in the first years of life is essential for a child to be healthy and happy and able to learn.  When a parent loves a child, the child returns that love completely.  Love makes us feel secure and teaches us how to love ourselves and others.
3	Our need to give and receive love is built into our body chemistry.  When mothers nurse their babies, the sucking causes a hormone (chemical) to be released in the motherfs brain.  This hormone starts her milk flowing and at the same time creates strong feelings of love for her baby.  Nursing also affects the hormone system of the baby, helping him or her digest the milk and stimulating the infantfs physical development.  The love and bonding that both mother and baby feel help the child survive.
4	The same bonding hormone (sometimes called the ecuddle chemicalf) is released when we hug people we love.  It works in other animals, too, such as prairie voles.  The hormone is released when they choose mates.  As a result, the male becomes very protective, and the pair spends hours grooming each other.  Their bond grows so strong that they stay together for life.
5	The world offers all too many examples of what can happen when young children do not receive love.  In Croatia, in Eastern Europe, wars have separated thousands of children from their families.  One group of children, about six years old and just starting school, had many problems.  They refused to eat, had terrible dreams, screamed and shouted, and felt sad all the time.  Without the love and protection of adults close to them, these children faced an unhappy future.
6	But when these orphans were adopted by new parents, who gave them the love they needed, many of them changed amazingly.  Their sadness disappeared, and they were soon laughing and playing and making friends.  Other kids slowly began to feel better but still had some problems.  And a few unlucky children did not get better at all.
7	This need for love never stops.  It seems that just as we need air and water and food, we need to give and receive love, right to the end of our lives.