That Thing Called Infatuation

Teenagers, most of the time, are the usual victims of the risks of the so called “infatuation.” Some of them think and believe that “He’s the one and I’ll do everything for him!” others would tell “He/she is my forever”.  Teens experience infatuation and mistakenly regard it as love.  But what concerns me the most is that not only teens experience this, even those who are younger became no exception.

One of the best psychologists, Michelle Drew, said that “infatuation is a static process characterized by an unrealistic expectation of blissful passion without positive growth and development. Characterized by a lack of trust, lack of loyalty, lack of commitment, lack of reciprocity, an infatuation is not necessarily foreplay for a love scenario. That’s when you think of someone all the time, you go out of your way to be around him/her, and you begin to center your priorities around him/her as well”

            A story which is going viral on social media can be an example of this thing called infatuation. It was about a grade 6 student who “proposed” to his “crush”, a fifth grader and asked the girl if she can be his girlfriend. He sang to her and gave her a teddy bear. The girl acted pressured, which can be observed through her behavior. The spectators gone wild when the girl answered the boy a “yes”.

But, infatuation on the other hand, is not always a bad thing. Yes, the feeling of infatuation drives you crazy but your feelings for someone may also keep you going. It motivates and inspires you to do the things you thought you cannot. But sometimes, its consequences may also impose danger. One of the effects infatuation can give is the loss of ability to make rational evaluations of what is true, valuable and worthy. When you are infatuated, you would usually want to be around that person as much as you can which may sometimes also be related to sexual desire. Thus, sometimes, this infatuation that teenagers feel leads to one of the growing societal issues – teenage pregnancy.

 As what I have watched from another story, basically a documentary film, teenage girls in a certain community in the Philippines are getting pregnant at an early age. It all started from teasing; feelings were then developed, togetherness heightened and then one day the girl was just found out to be already having a baby. In such case, the feeling of infatuation was proven to be dominated, for it is a scenario where reckless commitment satisfies one's all consuming lust. (Diffen.com)

What I really want to say is that, teenagers like me should be mindful enough of the dangers that an infatuation can give. Not all of its effects are necessarily beneficial. Most of the time, if not controlled, it may lead to undesirable consequences. Parents, who provide guidance, must also take their parts in educating their children, especially now that almost everything around can make fast influences on little and innocent minds.