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Couples Who Kiss Regularly Are Less Likely To Get Depressed

Published

4 years ago

April 24, 2022

When it comes to first kisses, scientists agree with those who believe in love at first sight, happy endings and the power of that first glorious embrace. That’s because, Scientists say, a kiss is much more than just a way of saying you fancy someone. It’s an efficient means of working out if your potential partner is the one for you.

In her book: The Science of Kissing, Sheril Kirshenbaum explains: “When we are that close to another person, all our senses are engaged allowing our bodies to assess compatibility and the potential for a long-term relationship.” This behaviour, she says, evolved to help humans fulfill three basic needs – sex drive, romantic love and attachment. “In other words,” she says, “kissing helps us find partners, commit to one person and keep couples together long enough to have a child.”

So how does locking lips help us achieve all these? When you kiss, you can’t help smelling the other person. And biologists have found that women are more turned on by the smell of men who have very different immune systems from their own.

Kirshenbaum says; “This may be because potential children would have a higher level of genetic diversity, making them healthier and more likely to survive. In this manner, kissing serves as nature’s ultimate litmus test to help us determine when to pursue a relationship.”

And once we find our perfect genetic mate, our bodies respond instinctively to his kiss by flooding our systems with feel-good hormones. She explains that: “A good romantic kiss quicken our pulse and dilates our pupils, which is probably part of the reason so many of us close our eyes. Our brains receive more oxygen than normal and breathing can become irregular and deepen. Our cheeks flush too but that’s only the beginning. There’s an associated rise in the neurotransmitter dopamine, responsible for craving and desire.

“Meanwhile, serotonin spikes to stimulate obsessive thoughts about a partner. This is the same neurotransmitter involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OeD), Oxytocin, popularly called the love hormone, is involved in bonding, fostering a sense of attachment. This is the chemical likely responsible for maintaining a love relationship over years and decades.”

We should not underestimate the importance of these chemicals. After all, how many of us have left the cinema after a dull romantic comedy and pointed out the ‘lack of chemistry’ between the couple who are supposed to be mad about each other? Or dreamt about how it would feel to kiss someone we have fantasised about for months – then been disappointed by the reality? For while that first kiss can be powerful enough to spark a lifelong romance, it can also break the spell.

A study of more than 1,000 students by the evolutionary psychologist George Gallup found that two-thirds of women and over half of men had been attracted to a potential partner – until they shared a disastrous first kiss. His team also found that men and women used kissing for different reasons. While the men mostly saw kissing as just a necessary step on the way to eventually having sex, women thought it was much more important. More men than women said they preferred kissing their partners with open mouths and using their tongues. And there’s even a good reason for that. Male saliva contains testosterone so it could affect how attractive the kissers find each other. Some scientists believe that men prefer sloppy kisses because they’re a way of working out how fertile a woman is – by ‘testing’ her saliva for tiny traces of oestrogen.

So when your kids scoff at your memories of that first magical kiss, tell them that without kissing, they might not have been here today. And make sure you don’t get out of the habit once your romance settles down. Research shows that couples who kiss regularly are less likely to get depressed, and those who kiss each other hello and goodbye have happier relationships than those who no longer do this.

How To Tell If Your Marriage Would Last

Are you and your spouse destined to be together forever? You don’t need a crystal ball. Just answer these five questions set by experts, honestly … Can you let things drop? Doesn’t it grate on you that he met his ex for lunch (a year age)? Is he still harping on about how you forgot your anniversary once?

Both of you need to be generous enough to put it behind you and move on. Everyone has got a past: we all mess up sometimes. Can you enjoy doing nothing together? If you can quite happily lounge around together, just enjoying the sound of silence, you work well as a couple. Do you fight right? If he’s a sulker and you’re a shouter. You could find it tricky to get to the bottom of an argument. So think about how you hammer things out and remember it is not about winning or losing – you both want the same thing.

Can you stop trying to change each other? We all try to fine-tune our partners a bit, but if you’re always offering to fix things for him, you will end up disappointed. You need to learn to accept the way your partner is or find someone you don’t need to fix!

Can you share your secrets? If you’ve opened up to him about your deepest, darkest moments but he is reluctant to talk, then you may need to think twice. It is by being open that we achieve intimacy.

Source: VANGUARD

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Oshiomhole Tells FG To Retaliate Against South African Companies In Nigeria

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on the Federal Government to retaliate against South African businesses operating in Nigeria following the recent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Speaking during plenary on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said the Federal Government should consider revoking the working license of South African owned companies such as MTN and DSTV.

He argued that Nigeria must respond firmly to what he described as persistent hostility against its citizens.

“I am not going to shed tears. If you hit me, I hit you. I think it is appropriate in diplomacy. It is an economic struggle,” Oshiomhole said.

He argued that while some South Africans accuse Nigerians of taking their jobs, Nigerians should return home and take over employment opportunities created by major South African companies operating in the country, including MTN and DSTV.

“When we hit back, the President of South Africa will not only talk but will also go on his knees to recognise that Nigeria cannot be intimidated.

“We will not condone any life being lost. If a crime has been committed under the South African law they have the right to bring any such person to justice, but to kill our people as if we are helpless, we will not allow that,” Oshiomhole added.

DAILY POST reports that several Nigerians in South Africa have reportedly been attacked, and their businesses destroyed, in ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

News

IGP Orders Officers Display Name Tag On Uniform, Gives Update On State Police

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Tunji Disu, has ordered all police personnel to always have their name tags on their uniforms for easy identification.

Disu disclosed that only police personnel who are undercover are exempted from displaying their name tags.

Speaking on Tuesday, Disu said: “All police officers should have their name tags. All of us on the high table have our names apart from the undercover among us so if you look at all the Commissioners of Police we have our name tags, so it’s not our standard.

News

Court Orders SERAP To Pay DSS Operatives N100m For Defamation

Published

7 hours ago

May 5, 2026

Editor

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has ordered a non-governmental organization, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, to pay N100 million as damaged to two operatives of the Department of the State Services, DSS, for unjustly defaming them in some publications.

The court also ordered SERAP to tender public apologies to the defamed officers,
Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, in two national newspapers, two television stations and its website.

Besides, the organization was also ordered to pay the two operatives N1 million as cost of litigation and 10 percent post-judgment interest annually on the judgment sum until it’s fully liquidated.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory gave the order on Tuesday while delivering judgment in a N5.5 billion defamation suit instituted against SERAP by the DSS operatives.

The judge found SERAP liable for unjustly defaming the two DSS operatives with allegations that they unlawfully invaded its Abuja office, harassed and intimidated its staff, in September 2024.

In the offending publication on its website and Twitter handle, SERAP alleged that the two operatives unlawfully invaded and occupied its office with sinister motives.

The judge held that the publication was in bad taste especially from an organization established to promote transparency and accountability, as nothing in the publication was found to be truthful.

The DSS staff had listed SERAP as 1st defendant in the suit marked CV/4547/2024. SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, was listed as the 2nd defendant.

In the suit, the claimants – Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele – accused the two defendants of making false claims that they invaded SERAP’s Abuja office on September 9, 2024..

Counsel to the DSS, Oluwagbemileke Samuel Kehinde, had while adopting his final address in the mater urged the judge to grant all the reliefs sought by his client in the interest of justice.

He admitted that although the names of the two claimants were not mentioned in the defamation materials, they had however established substantial circumstances that they are the ones referred to in the published defamation article by SERAP on its website.

The counsel submitted that all ingredients of defamation have been clearly established and the offending publication referred to the two officials of the secret police.

However, SERAP, through its counsel, Victoria Bassey from Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, law firm, asked the court to dismiss the suit on the ground that the two claimants did not establish that they were the ones referred to in the alleged defamation materials.

She said that SERAP used “DSS officials” in the alleged offending publication, adding that the two claimants must establish that they are the ones referred to before their case can succeed.

Similar arguments were canvassed by Oluwatosin Adefioye who stood for the second defendant, adding that there was no dispute in the September 9, 2024 operation of DSS in SERAP’s office.

He said that since SERAP in the publication did not name any particular person, the claimants must plead special circumstances that they were the ones referred to as the DSS officials.

Besides, he said that there is no organization by name Department of State Services in law, hence, DSS cannot claim being defamed adding that the only entity known to law is National Security Agency.

The claimants had in the suit stated that the alleged false claim by SERAP has negatively impacted on their reputation.

The DSS also stated, in the statement of claim, that, in line with the agency’s practice of engaging with officials of non-governmental organisations operating in the FCT to establish a relationship with their new leadership, it directed the two officials – John and Ogunleye – to visit SERAP’s office and invite them for a familiarization meeting.

The claimants added that in carrying out the directive, John and Ogunleye paid a friendly visit to SERAP’s office at 18 Bamako Street, Wuse Zone 1, Abuja on September 9 and met with one Ruth, who upon being informed about the purpose of the visit, claimed that none of SERAP’s management staff was in the country and advised that a formal letter of invitation be written by the DSS.

John and Ogundele, who claimed that their interactions with Ruth were recorded, said before they immediately exited SERAP’s office, Ruth promised to inform her organisation’s management about the visit and volunteered a phone number – 08160537202.

They said it was surprising that, shortly after their visit, SERAP posted on its X (Twitter) handle – @SERAPNigeria – that officers of the DSS are presently unlawfully occupying its office.

The claimant added, “On the same day, the defendants also published a statement on SERAP’s website, which was widely reported by several media outfits, falsely alleging that some officers from the DSS, described as “a tall, large, dark-skinned woman” and “a slim, dark skinned man,” invaded their Abuja office and interrogated the staff of the first defendant (SERAP).

John and Ogundele stated that “due to the false statements published by the defendants, the DSS has been ridiculed and criticised by international agencies such as the Amnesty International and prominent members of the Nigerian society, such as Femi Falana (SAN)”.

“Due to the false statements published by the defendants, members of the public and the international community formed the opinion that the Federal Government is using the DSS to harass the defendants.”

They added that the defendants’ statements caused harm to their reputation because the staff and management of the DSS have formed the opinion that the claimants did not follow orders and carried out an unsanctioned operation and are therefore, incompetent and unprofessional.

The claimants therefore prayed the court for the following reliefs: “An order directing the defendants to tender an apology to the claimants via the first defendant’s (SERAP’s) website, X (twitter) handle, two national daily newspapers (Punch and Vanguard) and two national news television stations (Arise Television and Channels Television) for falsely accusing the claimants of unlawfully invading the first defendant’s office and interrogating the first defendant’s staff.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N5 billion as damages for the libellous statements published about the claimants.

“Interest on the sum of N5b at the rate of 10 percent per annum from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is realised or liquidated.

“An order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N50 million as costs of this action.”