Food to reduce stress and elevate mood!!......Part 1
While doing some research on ‘Pleasure Hormone’ I came across ‘Snow White and the seven dwarfs’. I read the fairy tale again and found the names of the midgets very intriguing.
These bumpy feelings are then projected onto our partner. Out of the blue, he or she is no more, interesting. This is a very painful experience, in an intimate relationship. The "hangover," or "low-dopamine" period, might either make us feel dumped or as if someone is demanding things in a way that we cannot put up with. And then we may desperately seek new highs (alcohol, sweets, new partners, pornography, and so forth) to raise our dopamine levels again.
As dopamine levels decrease we experience anxiety or depression. Drugs giving "highs", like cocaine and nicotine, simulate the effects of dopamine in the brain. It has an active role in addiction by working on the reward-signalling system in the brain.
Feelings of getting satisfaction are so strong that we can often lose the ability to reason, in order to achieve satisfaction. We will act in what WE thinks is in OUR best interest.
The unconscious need for the release of dopamine thus becomes the most important factor. This supports the observation, that the unconscious plays a vital role in decision making.
Instead of merely blocking all the dopamine secretion and creating a detached “zombie-like” personality, researchers can now alter and preserve the dopamine secretion to cure mental diseases while keeping other brain functions intact............to be continued.
Grumpy, Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy and Dopey.........woh!! These names fit well with "the seven moods of man". Out of the seven, I got stuck to the name “DOPEY”.
Not sure whether it has got any connection with the word “DOPE” but I would love to connect it with “DOPAMINE” or the “PLEASURE HORMONE”. Unhappy Snow White became happy, in the company of ‘The Seven Dwarfs’.
Dopey....Dope....Dopamine!!
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that has a very significant role in brain pleasure pathways . It plays a key to the brain processes that controls movement, emotional responses, and the ability to experience pleasure and pain.
When we get a sudden urge for a pleasure-related activity like eating, drinking, and having sex, there is a “burst firing.” of dopamine level. This “burst firing” actually channels the “goal-oriented behaviour” in us. Due to all this, dopamine is called the “pleasure hormone.”
For a good mental health a balanced level of dopamine is necessary. When the level drops, we feel, something is terribly wrong. Too much of it might leads to quite severe wild behaviour and makes us edgy.
These bumpy feelings are then projected onto our partner. Out of the blue, he or she is no more, interesting. This is a very painful experience, in an intimate relationship. The "hangover," or "low-dopamine" period, might either make us feel dumped or as if someone is demanding things in a way that we cannot put up with. And then we may desperately seek new highs (alcohol, sweets, new partners, pornography, and so forth) to raise our dopamine levels again.
As dopamine levels decrease we experience anxiety or depression. Drugs giving "highs", like cocaine and nicotine, simulate the effects of dopamine in the brain. It has an active role in addiction by working on the reward-signalling system in the brain.
The reward is the release of dopamine and the feeling of satisfaction. Then to stay satisfied, we will grow a desire. Then to satisfy that desire, we will repeat behaviours that caused the release of dopamine. Gambling is a perfect example of this.
For example, we might insist on gambling, even though we know that the odds are against us. Probability and reason are no longer the most important factors in decision making.
Feelings of getting satisfaction are so strong that we can often lose the ability to reason, in order to achieve satisfaction. We will act in what WE thinks is in OUR best interest.
The unconscious need for the release of dopamine thus becomes the most important factor. This supports the observation, that the unconscious plays a vital role in decision making.
Research on Dopamine system has now made it easy to understand many psychological diseases, from schizophrenia to hallucinations. Dr. Anthony Grace says “We have found the area of the brain that tells [dopamine neurons] to go into communication mode or not. Accordingly it could provide potential therapies for major mental disorders. We could develop drugs that control what the dopamine is doing.”
Instead of merely blocking all the dopamine secretion and creating a detached “zombie-like” personality, researchers can now alter and preserve the dopamine secretion to cure mental diseases while keeping other brain functions intact............to be continued.
