Neurotransmitters of Happiness: what are they?

Describing happiness in a single concept can be arrogant on my part, since there are as many meanings as there are people in the world, which is why I invites you to make reflections based on the different disciplines with the sole purpose of giving you an idea and inviting you to mobilize your resources from all the possible ways so that one day you can write your own script based on your approaches & concepts and then you are the one who narrates your happiness.

How does happiness manifest in the body? The physical body is a channel that communicates constantly, it gives us signals that manifest different states, conditioned by the stimuli that we present to it and that will finally give us a message of how are we. Happiness in the body manifests itself in different ways, enjoyment is one of the indicators of well-being, pleasure, gratitude, just to name a few..

The nervous system is directly connected to our digestive system, hence the importance of being aware of the food we consume and the stimuli with which we load our system, stimuli perceived by our nervous system and giving meaning to our internal relationship, that relationship with our awareness.

• We recommend you read: "What is the relationship between endorphins and happiness?"

happiness throughout history

Historically, man has asked himself the question in all possible ways and in all languages, perhaps one of the more complex questions to answer, which has been debated and has even motivated man to achieve almost impossible feats achieve.

Dalai Lama raises a truth: The ultimate purpose of life is to be happy, and this is achieved basically by training the mind. He insists that happiness based on external facts will be a temporary happiness or rather a false happiness.

Socrates proposed that wisdom and knowledge would guide individuals on the right path to achieve happiness, but with the Over the years and from the historical, cultural and social perspective, the definition of him has taken on a more subjective and proper sense in each individual.

Capitalism indicates that happiness is connected to productivity, in the logic of accessing resources that sustain a lifestyle traversed by money. Religion connects Happiness as an act of Faith, understanding that the doors of heaven will open for us if we act in coherence with the word of God on Earth, from obedience, honoring the family and all the values ​​of the Holy Trinity.

Psychology has struggled to define happiness and in the 1930s, Abraham Maslow identified the basic needs of the individual and as they go being satisfied, others of a higher or better level arise, until reaching a peak of full happiness, calling this hierarchy Maslow's Pyramid.' Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi introduced us to the bases of the flow experience where the individual is constantly looking for new experiences that give him satisfaction. Today there is a branch of psychology called Positive Psychology or Happiness that is in charge of study all the factors that are interrelated with the human experience of accessing the Routes of the Happiness.

In economics, Richard A. Easterlin of the Department of Economics at the University of Southern California, explains that the life circumstances and, in particular, income growth, have lasting effects on the happiness. Economists recognize that it depends on a variety of circumstances in addition to material conditions, but have long embraced a theory called "more is better.", where the main implication is that if income increases substantially, then general welfare will move in the same direction.

What happens in our body when we are happy?

Science exposes a concept associated with the physical and genetic predisposition of the body to generate neural connections that facilitate adaptation to different environments. Being happy is an evolutionary mechanism imprinted in the genes, without it, you could not survive, due to the fact that the search for food and the reproduction process are essential activities for survival that are related to pleasure and happiness.

In a more exact sense, happiness is a neurochemical process that can be studied from two interconnected brain systems: the limbic and the extrapyramidal. The limbic system exerts control of our emotions and allows neurotransmitters to be released that allow information to be connected from one neuron to another, transmitting signals of an excitatory or inhibitory.

Only 2% of neurons secrete neurotransmitters that directly influence happiness: dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, which we will discuss in greater depth later in the text since their production is largely associated with eating habits. life that each one has, understanding that stress due to the particular characteristic of secreting cortisol which decreases the secretion of norepinephrine and serotonin in our system highly strung.

The extrapyramidal system, the nucleus accumbens is the region of our brain that classifies the sensations that we perceive, is in charge of rational behaviors, helps us in making decisions you consent Depression occurs because the circuits suffer an imbalance where dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, which are interconnected, has a significant drop, this is due to different factors associated with the environment and the predisposition, which may or may not adjust depending on the psychic resources and the care habits with which count; diet, exercise, habits such as meditation are on the list of activities that best stimulate happiness.

Joy, pleasure and satisfaction. What to expect? These three states are often confused, we are going to differentiate them since the three invite us to different experiences and are triggered by similar neurotransmitters but they are not the same.

Dopamine, serotonin and happiness

Joy is an emotion, usually it occurs as a response to an external or internal situation that makes us feel very good. and that we generally manifest with laughter or even with a feeling of euphoria, can last up to a couple of weeks and tends to trigger a state with greater durability: happiness.

Pleasure is related to pleasurable experiences closely connected to the senses, just like satisfaction, they are instantaneous or momentary sensations produced exogenously; In general, the person who manifests it presents a lack of perspective regarding a situation and in compensation for it, material stimuli are sought (buying, consumption, etc.). erratic) that lead to the sensation of satisfaction, but this is given a lack of dopamine that is not sustainable in the body, in fact it is as fleeting as an instant, regarding the dopamine.

Dopamine is one of the most important neurotransmitters of the Central Nervous System. which participates in the regulation of various functions such as motor behavior, emotion and affectivity as well as in neuroendocrine communication. Released by the hypothalamus and stimulated by activities such as exercising and those that have to do with approval, for example when you are in love there is a high dopaminergic activity.

Understand that it is volatile since in the same way that it rises, in the same way it decreases, for this reason my therapeutic recommendation is to be very conscious in the regulation, so we avoid those slumps moody Activities such as meditation facilitate control in the body and, incidentally, serotonin, another neurotransmitter responsible for well-being, is stimulated.

Unlike the previous one, Serotonin is a stable neurotransmitter that is able to remain in the body constantly if stimulated correctly, with healthy habits that impact the well-being of the person.

It is a neurotransmitter related to the control of emotions and mood. Necessary for the balance of our body. It is produced in the stomach, specifically associated with digestion processes, for this reason there is a close relationship between nutrients and food that we deliver to our cells and emotional well-being, besides:

• It works as an appetite regulator, it generates the feeling of satiety.
• Control body temperature.
• It controls emotions and impulses in the body.
• It controls motor activity, perception and cognitive function.
• In conjunction with other neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine - participates in the mechanisms that control anxiety, fear, anguish and aggressiveness.
• It has the ability to regulate the secretion of other hormones, such as melatonin, a protein whose many functions include regulating circadian rhythms and sleep.
• Facilitates the formation of bone structure.
• Involved in the functioning of the vascular system.
• Stimulates cell division.

Also known as the happiness hormone, if the levels in the neural circuits increase, the person experiences a feeling of well-being, tranquility, calm, relaxation, satisfaction, also increases concentration and self-esteem. To produce Serotonin, the body needs a substance called tryptophan, it cannot be produced by itself, therefore we must obtain it from food, among the most prominent: Eggs – Pasta – Rice – Dairy – Cereals – Chicken – Turkey – Bananas –Leguminous.

We also increase serotonin levels through regular physical exercise, relaxation techniques such as yoga, Meditation, changes in activity, travel, new projects and healthy leisure activities help maintain and even increase the production of serotonin. Low serotonin levels are associated with mental illnesses, such as autism, schizophrenia, hyperactivity, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, aggressiveness, insomnia, stress, among others.

Understand that as people we are responsible for our well-being, that our body is a reflection of the care we give it we deliver and that of course our mental and emotional health also become part of this relationship bidirectional. Learning to listen and feel our body is one of the great challenges we face today.That is why practicing silence and meditation as sources of connection with ourselves is a true gift.

There are many studies that show that healthy habits positively impact the lives of people in the different dimensions of being and it is always a good time to change our care habits, understanding that our neuroplastic brain adapts and adjusts to constant stimuli, generating learning that is permanently installed permanent. If you want to know the wellness programs that I accompany, I invite you to visit my website: www.terapeutaholistica.com