A crush is an intense, often short-lived infatuation with someone that you have feelings for but for whom you probably have little or no chance of becoming a romantic partner. You may feel a strong compulsion to see your crush whenever possible, blush uncontrollably when they’re around, or get butterflies in your stomach when you talk to them. The person you have a crush on may trigger positive emotions like joy and euphoria, but they can also lead to negative ones like anxiety and jealousy.
A crush can be a great motivator, making you want to work harder at school or pursue your goals, but it can also create problems, such as procrastination and anxiety, according to research. It can also affect your social life, causing you to miss out on opportunities or neglect your responsibilities. And of course, there’s the potential for rejection, which can be extremely hard to cope with.
When you have a crush, your body releases certain chemicals that can make you feel good, including dopamine and endorphins. However, these chemicals can also cause your heart rate to increase and can put you in a state of high stress or anxiety. This can lead to mood swings, and the uncertainty of whether your crush reciprocates your feelings can trigger panic attacks. Moreover, the fear of rejection causes your amygdala—the brain area critical for emotional processing—to be hyperactive, resulting in feelings of depersonalization and disconnection from yourself.
This can cause you to start believing that your crush is the only one for you, which can be very dangerous. It can also prevent you from focusing on your other goals, such as being successful at your job or getting into college, and can even ruin your relationships with other people. Fortunately, you can avoid the pitfalls of a crush by understanding that it’s normal to feel this way and knowing how to deal with it.
The likable actors and refreshingly diverse cast in Crush deserve a more fleshed-out story than this bare-minimum approach to teen romance and coming-of-age movies. Despite some mildly amusing profanity-laced banter, the movie lacks that requisite dose of youthful mischief and a sense of high stakes that are integral to many of these genre staples.
The film has one visual flourish when Paige starts to really connect with Gabby, when her line of sight becomes filled with splashes of water colors, a metaphor for the feeling of being enveloped by her crush. Unfortunately, this is the only time the film makes use of this technique, and it’s not enough to counteract the movie’s overall flatness.