Hormones of happiness: myths and truths about these substances

Are there hormones of happiness? One of the most mentioned expressions in psychology and related sciences is that there are certain substances that, when released in our brain, induce us to a state of well-being emotional.

However, it seems somewhat simplistic to reduce an emotion as complex and abstract as happiness into a mere set of chemical reactions in our nervous system, so there is usually some skepticism about a biologicist view of behavior human.

Here we will address the issue of what is usually understood by the concept of "hormones of happiness".

• Related article: "Types of hormones and their functions in the human body"

What are the hormones of happiness?

One of the most heard expressions in psychology and in health sciences in general is that there is something that has been commonly called “the hormones of happiness”. These substances that claim to harbor joy are usually the quartet of serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin. This expression, which is already almost a mantra,

It could sound crude and simplistic when trying to reduce a feeling as intense and abstract as happiness to simple biochemical reactions.

But, of course, our emotional states are not the product of magic. Even running the risk of falling into an overly biological perspective, it is a fact that our thought, feelings, beliefs and other psychological aspects have to be based on a support biological. That support is the Central Nervous System, an organic machine that hosts different neurological phenomena and biochemical reactions that are behind how we feel and react.

Yes, we can affirm that there are hormones of happiness, although, more properly speaking, we would say that what causes us happiness are actually neurotransmitters. The difference between "neurotransmitter" and "hormone" is very subtle and, in practice, few people differentiate the two terms. Saying that serotonin is a hormone is as correct as saying that it is a neurotransmitter, although when talking about its reactions at the level of our brain, the second term is preferred. The main thing is that neurotransmitters are molecules exchanged by neurons, while hormones circulate through the bloodstream and its effects are less immediate. Many molecules that act as neurotransmitters are, at the same time, hormones, depending on their location and context.

Whether talking about neurotransmitters or talking about hormones, the fact is that there are some substances that when they are released into the synaptic space of neurons they induce changes in our state soulful. Happiness, along with other states of mind, is partly a product of brain chemistry, the same one on which psychopharmacology has been based to create drugs aimed at improving health of patients with different disorders intervening in the production and reuptake of certain neurotransmitters.

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What are these hormones and how far do their emotional effects go?

Although everyone has felt happiness, describing this emotion has never been an easy task. It is for this reason that for thousands of years philosophers have argued about what it is to feel happy, what causes it, how our soul behaves so that we feel happiness... It is not an obstacle to this article to enter into a philosophical debate, so let's go describe happiness in a more pragmatic way, using the same definition that scientists have used to look for it in the brain: is the feeling of well-being and positive emotions that we feel subjectively when we achieve something pleasant.

Based on this definition, neuroscientists and endocrinologists have established that there are a total of 4 substances different ones that play a fundamental role when we feel happiness: endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin.

1. Endorphins

Endorphins are neurotransmitters and hormones that generate a certain sedative effect, so they help reduce physical pain. For example, in situations where we experience a sudden rise in stress levels, the increase in endorphins makes us feel less pain due to possible injuries that we may suffer in this situation associated with risk or to danger.

Obviously, pain is linked to displeasure and, therefore, it can be said that it distances us from happiness, but its absence does not guarantee it either. And something can be said about the state of relaxation that endorphins sometimes provide us; for example, we can be calm but at the same time very bored.

• Related article: "Endorphins (neurotransmitters): functions and characteristics"

2. Serotonin

Serotonin is often linked to moments of well-being, but the truth is that its operation is much more complex than this, and can be "deployed" to through multiple pathways and chain reactions of various molecules interacting with each other and with neurons.

In fact, an excess of serotonin can have very harmful consequences for the body: the maximum exponent of this is serotonin syndrome, which can be caused as a side effect of some psychotropic drugs.

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3. Dopamine

Dopamine is associated with love relationships and affection. However, this fact in itself gives you one of the keys why it cannot be a cause of happiness: is closely linked to social experiences, that is, to the interaction with other people or beings whom we love or learn to love over time.

• Related article: "Dopamine: 7 essential functions of this neurotransmitter"

4. Oxytocin

Oxytocin is also linked to affection, but not so much to falling in love. It has been seen that its presence is associated with long-term relationships, so that its release process in the human body is more stable and sustained. Now, it must also be "sustained" by something beyond the organism: those relationships with others.

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The key is in the interaction between the biological and the behavioral

As we have seen, there are hormones that can be associated with certain pleasant experiences and that can participate in the process of being happy. However, happiness is too complex a phenomenon to be reduced to molecules, and it always involves the social relationships and interaction with the environment (that is, what by definition is beyond our skin).

Thus, the concept of "hormones of happiness" makes sense, but it is still a simplification that we can sometimes use to explain the functioning of the parts of the body involved in emotions.