chemical bliss

Most of us measure happiness as a product of various material factors such as health, wealth, and success. So this means that if we are healthy and successful we must be happy. So why do we suffer from discontent and meaninglessness despite being successful in our career and endeavors? Psychologists and biologists now believe that our biochemistry has a higher level of determining how happy we are and how happy we can become. As Yuval Noah Harari said in his book “Sapiens” that lasting happiness comes only from Serotonin, Dopamine and Oxytocin.

Women, on average, are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men. Their emotions and memory centers are stronger and larger than those of men. If they understand how their brain reacts to external stimuli, they can control their emotions and feelings before responding unreasonably. Being aware of how the centers of your brain work can help you be aware of what’s going on in your head and think rationally without letting emotions get in the way. In the following points we explain the biochemical factors that align with female unhappiness.

1. Tonsil

It is the brain’s center for fear and emotions. A woman’s amygdala is more easily activated by emotional nuances. Her amygdala responds strongly to a stressful or pleasurable situation. This amygdala response activates her hippocampus, which is the brain’s center for memory storage, to label the details of that particular situation, allowing her to remember that particular situation for quite a long period of time.

2. Emotional reflection

Women may feel greater bodily sensations than men. This means that the physical pain or emotions they feel are more intense. These bodily sensations help them track and feel painful emotions. Just watching someone in an emotional state activates similar brain patterns in a woman’s brain, allowing her to stress over a situation that isn’t even her own. This is called emotional reflex.

3. Estrogen and progesterone

Estrogen is the feel-good brain chemical and progesterone is the ‘lazy and lazy’ hormone. Women whose ovaries produce the most estrogen and progesterone are more resistant to stress because their brain secretes more serotonin, a chemical that makes you feel relaxed and calm. Serotonin changes in the body can cause frequent mood swings. Women tend to produce lower amounts of serotonin than men. Serotonin deficiency can cause mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety.

4. Gut feelings

The insula, a region of the brain that processes visceral feelings, is larger in women. As a woman’s brain can easily track bodily sensations, her gut sensations are also intense. She pays close attention to her instincts, reflects on them over a much longer period of time than a man would, on average.

5. Sexual orgasm

The female orgasm creates feelings of intimacy and trust towards the partner. It increases electrochemical activities in the body and releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine, endorphin, and oxytocin. The clitoral nerves communicate directly with the pleasure centers of the woman’s brain. If those nerves are stimulated, they trigger an explosion of feel-good chemicals, but if the nerves to the clitoris aren’t sensitive enough, or if fear or guilt interferes with the stimulation, there will be no orgasm. A female brain has to be off to turn on sexually. If she is stressed or angry or if her amygdala is high, it will be difficult for her to reach orgasm.

6. High cortisol levels

Cortisol, the stress hormone, helps control blood sugar levels and regulate metabolism. But high cortisol levels can trigger changes in the menstrual cycle and cause anxiety and depression. Mood swings and skin changes are also related. Cortisol is produced in the adrenal glands, and adrenal gland tumors can increase cortisol levels in the body.

There are also some other psychological factors that are related to unhappiness.

• Less maternal care: Children who do not receive enough maternal care are more likely to become stressed and fearful as adults. They are more prone to anxiety disorders than those who receive more maternal care.

• Communication: a woman has larger communication centers in her brain than men. Oral communication is very important for a woman for connection. Connecting through communication activates the pleasure centers in the female brain, prompting the release of dopamine (the feel-good chemical).

• Conflict: Conflict triggers a negative chemical reaction in a woman’s brain. It creates stress and fear. This is why women avoid conflict at all costs. The psychological stress of a conflict is quite intense for a woman.

• Postpartum depression: 1 in 10 women will be stressed after giving birth within a year. It may be due to lack of emotional support, conflicts at home, or previous depression.

Our biochemical system determines our levels of happiness. It has evolved to keep our happiness constant, not too sad and not too happy. We may feel momentary pleasure, but it quickly wears off and we are back to how we were before. But we all have a different biochemical system. People who are born with a joyful biochemical system are blessed with high levels of happiness. They can lose everything and everyone, go through a lot of misery, but they will still be happy. People born with gloomy biochemistry will find it difficult to remain happy even if their life is perfect. It is difficult for us to break free from our biologically determined limits. If we can alter our biochemical system, we can alter our levels of happiness.