HEALTH & WELLBEING Can happiness be linked to our hormones?

Can happiness be linked to our hormones?

WORDS DR MICHELLE REISS, LIFESTYLE MEDICINE PHYSICIAN

Is happiness something we all have to work at continuously, or can we expect it to just happen?

Charlie Chaplin, the silent film comedian who made the world laugh, knew the secret. He was also a gifted composer and wrote the music behind the words, “Light up your face with gladness/Hide every trace of sadness … You’ll find that life is worthwhile/If you just smile.”

Those words, it turns out, are still true today. In a recent study by psychologists*, three groups of volunteers kept weekly journals focused on a single topic. Group 1 wrote about the daily irritations or things that had displeased them; Group 2 wrote about events that had affected them (whether positive or negative); and Group 3 wrote about things they were grateful for that occurred during the week.

After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. They also exercised more, felt more motivated, and had fewer physical symptoms such as fatigue and headaches with fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of irritation.

So, if actively practising gratitude can improve a sense of emotional and physical wellbeing, how much control can we have on things that give our lives meaning?

When it comes to happiness, love, positivity and contentment, there are effectively four major neurotransmitter/hormones that play very important roles in regulating these emotions: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.

If you say “hormones”, most people think puberty and menopause. However, there are many hormones that control most bodily functions. We also have neurotransmitters, little chemicals that travel between our nerves. Some chemicals, such as oxytocin, are both a hormone and a neurotransmitter.

And the best news is we are able to exercise control over their concentration levels and therefore our own feelings of wellbeing. »

Happiness hormones and how to activate them

DOPAMINE (“reward” chemical)

• Sense of achievement and pride • Celebrating the small wins • Completing tasks • Self-care activities • Food and addictions (not always positive)

OXYTOCIN (“love and contentment” hormone)

• Hugging someone • Playing with the dog or cat • Volunteering • Connection to nature • Holding hands

SEROTONIN (“mood” stabiliser chemical)

• Healthy gut • Exercise • Sun exposure • Meditation • Nature walk

ENDORPHINS (“euphoria and painkiller” chemicals)

• Higher-intensity exercise • Laughter, tickling • Chilli • Dark chocolate • Watching comedies

Try it for yourself: Taking a nature walk will increase oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin. Participants in a study who went on a regular 90-minute walk through a natural environment reported lower levels of negativity and showed reduced neural activity in an area of the brain linked to risk for mental illness.

Volunteering also increases oxytocin and dopamine. One of the main ways you can care for yourself is to care for others! There are many studies and papers that highlight the benefits of volunteering such as reduced depression, increased sense of purpose, reduced stress and increased longevity. Of course, you’ll need to approach your volunteering with a smile and a good attitude.

Smiling will increase oxytocin and serotonin. One study examined a group of city bus drivers and found that employees who put on a fake smile for the job were in a worse mood by the end of the day compared to those drivers who genuinely smiled as a result of positive thoughts. So, when you smile, make sure to smile like you mean it.

Working out will increase all four hormones. Exercise is proven to increase feel-good chemicals in the brain, reduce stress hormones, and relieve depression and anxiety.

Mastering a skill will fuel dopamine and oxytocin. Working to improve a skill or learning a new one such as learning to drive or taking up pottery, may cause some stress in the short term, but makes people feel happy and more content with their lives in the long run.

My hope with this article is that I can bring the medical evidence together with subjectivity to encourage active participation in activities that add meaning, value and happiness in our lives. As so many musicians have sung, “When you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.”

*University of California, Davis and cited in Harvard Health Publishing

References

www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/in-praise-of-gratitude Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation Volunteering may be good for body and mind; JUNE 26, 2013,

Harvard Health Publishing. Mayo Clinic Health Systems Volunteering and health benefits in general adults: cumulative effects and forms. Jerf W. K. Yeung, 2017 Positive psychology interventions: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies

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