lings in a relationship that promote closeness, bondedness, and connectedness". Passion is a mixture between sexual desires and psychological longing. Decision/commitment consists of both a conscious decision that one has found someone they love and commitment to stay with them for the long-term.
             These three components seem to be things that we strongly need to in order to be well-adjusted, happy, and psychologically balanced. When we experience a loss in one of these areas, our relationships suffer. When we experience a loss in all three areas we can be drastically thrown off balance and grieve for our previous happiness.
             Studies show that when a relationship ends, in many cases, love still remains. Unfortunately, many loving relationships end when a spouse dies. Even though one's partner has passed away, the feelings and emotions associated with that person still linger, often painfully. Furthermore, in a study conducted by a psychologist from Illinois State University, Susan Sprecher, PhD, it was determined that the majority of couples break up because of decreased levels of satisfaction and commitment, not because of a decrease in love (Willenz, 1999).
             Sprecher surveyed both partners in 101 heterosexual relationships in a Midwestern university over a period of four years. What she focused on were actual and perceived levels of love, satisfaction, and commitment. At the end of four years, 59% of the couples ended the relationship, saying that although their level of love for one another remained the same they were unsatisfied in the other two areas of focus. This is an interesting result that could perhaps account for much of the feelings of depression that accompany a break-up. If the emotion of eros lingers after a loved one has become unavailable (for whatever reasons), it would seem natural that some form of bereavement would result.
             Studies have been conducted to test the likelihood of this typ...