Happiness hormones: myths and truths about these substances

Let's see what is known about the so-called "happiness hormones" and their effects on the body.

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

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

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

What are the hormones of happiness?

One of the most heard expressions in psychology and health sciences in general is that there is something commonly referred to as "the hormones of happiness". These substances that are said to harbor joy are usually the quartet of serotonin, dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin. This expression, which has become almost a mantra, may sound coarse and simplistic in attempting to reduce such an intense and abstract feeling as happiness to simple biochemical reactions..

But, of course, our emotional states are not the product of magic. Even at the risk of falling into an overly biologistic perspective, it is a fact that our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and other psychological aspects must be based on a Biological support. 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 happiness hormones exist, although, speaking more appropriately, 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 between the two terms. To say that serotonin is a hormone is as correct as to say 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, whereas hormones circulate through the bloodstream and their effects are less immediate. and their effects are less immediate. Many molecules that act as neurotransmitters are, at the same time, hormones, depending on their location and context.

Whether we speak of neurotransmitters or hormones, the fact is that there are substances that, when released into the synaptic space of neurons, induce changes in our mood. Happiness, along with other moods, is in part a product of brain chemistry, the same one in which psychoanalysis is involved.The same brain chemistry on which psychopharmacology has been based to create drugs aimed at improving the health of patients with different disorders by 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 discussed what it is to feel happy, what causes it, how our soul behaves so that we feel happiness... It is not the purpose of this article to enter into a philosophical debate, so we are going to describe happiness in a more pragmatic way, using the same definition that scientists have used to look for it in the brain: it is the feeling of well-being and positive emotions that we subjectively feel when we achieve something pleasant..

Based on this definition, neuroscientists and endocrinologists have established that there are a total of 4 different substances 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.and therefore help to reduce physical pain. For example, in situations in which we experience a sudden rise in stress levels, the increase in endorphins makes us feel less pain from the possible injuries we may suffer in that situation associated with risk or 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 of the state of relaxation that sometimes endorphins provide us; for example, we can be calm but at the same time very bored.

2. Serotonin

Serotonin is usually linked to moments of well-being.Serotonin, but the truth is that its functioning is much more complex than this, and it can "unfold" through multiple pathways and chain reactions of several 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 the serotonin syndrome, which can be caused as a side effect of some psychotropic drugs.

3. Dopamine

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

4. Oxytocin

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

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The key lies in the interplay between the biological and the behavioral

As we have seen, there are hormones that can indeed 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 always involves social relationships and interaction with the environment (that is, what is by definition beyond our skin).

Therefore, the concept of "happiness hormones" is a concept that is too complex to be reduced to molecules, the concept of "happiness hormones" makes sense, but it is a simplification of the concept. that we can sometimes use to explain the functioning of the parts of the body involved in emotions.