Health

Happiness and Hormones: Are they really related?

“The purpose of life is to be happy”

– Dalai Lama

Happiness can differs from person to person, and it generally includes being able to do the things you want to do from the core of your heart. Happiness is a broad term that describes many positive emotional states such as satisfaction, contentment, joy and fulfillment. Being more happy not only makes you feel better, but also has many health benefits. Happiness is generally associated with more positive feelings than negative. So, being happier in turn makes you a healthier version of you. On the other hand, hormones are the chemical messenger of human body. Hormones are produced by various endocrine glands of our body. They play an important role in many bodily processes. Apart from other functions, one of the important function played by hormones are helping in boosting your mood. And the hormones involved in regulating your mood are called feel-good hormones. These hormones promote happiness and general well-being into your life. How these hormones are related with your mood? Let’s discuss about the relationships between happiness and those hormones.

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Dopamine

Dopamine is associated with pleasure. This is one of the main feel-good hormones. Actually this is the ‘Happy Hormone’ of human body. It is the reward chemical of human body as well. Dopamine helps us in focusing something and finding things interesting. It makes us feel good. It conveys signal between neurons.

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Serotonin

Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. This hormone is considered as a natural mood stabilizer. It plays an important role in reducing depression and regulating anxiety. It helps in the communication of brain cells and other nerve cells. Very little secretion of Serotonin may leads to depression while increased level of the hormone leads to excessive activity of nerve cells.

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Endorphins

The word ‘Endorphin’ comes from endogenous morphine, where endogenous means within the body and morphine is a pain reliever. So, Endorphin is your body’s natural pain reliever. Endorphins are produced by central nervous system and the pituitary gland. Generally Endorphins are produced in response to pain, but they can also be produced during exercise or eating. Endorphins help you in reducing stress and anxiety. They are very helpful in alleviating depression and to deal with pain at the time of childbirth.

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Oxytocin

Oxytocin is considered as the ‘Love Hormone’ . Oxytocin helps in promoting trust, empathy and bonding with your close ones. This Love hormone is very helpful during childbirth and lactation as well. The amount of the secretion of Oxytocin increases when you are in physical affection like touching, kissing, hugging and cuddling with someone you love. It seems to play a larger role in women’s physiology than men’s.

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These hormones are literally the natural mood boosters. So we can say that these hormones play a crucial role in your happiness and well-being.

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