The Scope of Happiness Hormones Effects
Seeing that achieving happiness is a major human purpose, people conduct themselves, each in their own individual way towards this purpose. The happiness and tranquility hormones are continuously secreted into our bodies due to, or as a result of, good experiences and events or even just good thoughts or memories. The continuous secretion and consumption of happiness hormones is an essential and necessary need without which we cannot live. To illustrate this, we will examine a situation in which we are precluded a sufficient supply of such hormones. During the 1940’s, researcher René Spitz conducted a methodical study of children who lived in hospitals, with no father, mother or parent figure present. These children did not experience love, an embrace, sufficient attention, and a proper response to their cries and needs. They showed signs of delayed development, were quieter than regular children and their condition slowly declined. Half of them passed away and those who survived did not develop and function normally. The clear conclusion was that children die because of lack of love, human contact, sufficient attention, and consideration of their needs. In other words, it is evident from the study that it is impossible to survive without the ongoing secretion of happiness hormones.
The Balance between Stress Hormones and Happiness Hormones
The stress hormones (Adrenaline and mainly Cortisol) that are also secreted continuously in our body, as a response to events, thoughts, or emotions, are also essential and, in their absence, we will find it difficult to cope with the challenges facing us along the way. They are essential also due to other effects that they have on our body and yet, their elevated, continuous, and uncontrolled presence (especially Cortisol) might cause severe physical damage, even death.
In many cases, these contrasting hormones can rule out or overcome each other. The hormones that outnumber the opposite hormones, in the balance between them, are those that set the mood at any given moment. It is known that high levels of Cortisol suppress the production of Serotonin. On the other hand, happiness hormones can cancel out the effects of stress hormones. For example, when we are very hungry, we become nervous and angry as our body secretes stress hormones namely, Adrenalin and Cortisol. Eating and satiating our hunger leads to the release of Dopamine, which relaxes us and cancels out or overcomes the stress hormones. Oxytocin is released during and after sexual intercourse and, according to several theories, fights Cortisol.
When facing an important, significant, and nerve-racking event for which we are unsure of our success or failure (such as a test, serious confrontation, intimidating public appearance, important sports match, trial, surgery, etc.), Cortisol levels in our body escalate and we feel the physical symptoms of stress. If we fail the said important test, the level of stress hormones will increase even further, and their physical damage will accumulate in our bodies. However, if we succeed, or win, our bodies will enjoy a tremendous influx of happiness hormones that, beyond the sense of happiness, will lead all our systems to a sense of calm and tranquility. The happiness hormones defuse the negative effect of the stress hormones. We may conclude that the best sedatives for our body and mind are the happiness hormones secreted into our bodies after an important win or achievement.
The constant swaying pendulum between overcoming the stress hormones and overcoming the happiness hormone can sometimes be very dynamic as stress and tranquility hormones are often secreted concurrently or in very close succession. For example, when watching an important football match, conflicting hormones can flow through our bodies whenever the ball goes from one side of the pitch to the other. The key to a good mood, which positively impacts the physical condition, is a proper balance between stress hormones and happiness hormones, where the happiness hormones overcome the stress ones.
The Reasons Why It Is So Difficult to Achieve Happiness by Utilizing Happiness Hormones
There are several reasons to the fact that we find it difficult to achieve happiness through the natural use of happiness hormones or by using medication that enhances their activity.
If you belong to that happy, lucky group of people in the world that like their lives just as they are than this article is not for you, but if you unfortunately belong to the group who is just getting through your day somehow and trying to survive until tomorrow, than there are probably things in your life that are not satisfying enough and are not bringing you the fulfillment you want and need. The next question would be “what are those things that would bring us the fulfillment we need?” The unsatisfying answer to that is that only you know what will make you happy. That is the life search of all of us-to find what makes us happy-a search that is often much harder than we think it will be.
A good way to start this life journey is to look at our day and become aware of what is happening in one 24 hour period. If we can learn how to make one day happier than we might have a blueprint for making each day, each week, each year, and ultimately our lives work better toward achieving a more fulfilling life. There are things in our day that we cannot change. If we work that takes up most of our day, but we can still put into each day some small pleasant things that can make each day better. We can plan better meals. We can plan a little relaxing time to do what we enjoy. We can plan some small contact with friends and family or some interesting hobby. The important word is plan. Nothing happens unless we think about and plan for it to happen. If each day has something to look forward to, it can make our lives more pleasant and more meaningful. Just work or just responsibilities can become exhausting and unfulfilling. Even if we really like our jobs, they can often be very stressful, so planning some pleasant things that we enjoy every day can help us cope better with all the stress in our lives.