Blog Post #12 03/11/15
Recently, one of my friends was talking to a boy she likes, and she noticed that she was being incredibly weird and would say things that she didn't actually mean and then instantly reply with "I don't know why I said that." She asked me to help her figure out what was wrong (not that she minded being weird with him. It was pretty funny,) and we came to the conclusion that she may have been a little "high" on oxytocin and dopamine.
Oxytocin is a feel-good chemical released in your brain that is often associated with emotions like love, comfort and happiness. It's known as the "cuddle drug," because the easiest way to release oxytocin in someone is to give them a hug. My friend is very good friends with this boy, and being around him clearly releases an excessive amount of oxytocin in her brain. My analysis was that there may have been enough released to make her a little bit loopy.
Dopamine also contributed to her attitude while talking to him because she would say something weird and random that she didn't mean -(for example, calling him Jerry even though that is not his name and she does not know anyone named Jerry, and saying that her mother dropped her as a child and then replying with "no she didn't that's a lie I don't know why I said that")- and then instantly replying by saying "that's a lie." Dopamine is a chemical associated with happiness, excitement and risk-taking. Based on what she had sent and her immediate reply, my assumption was that excessive levels of dopamine were also released in her brain while conversing with him.
After my diagnosis, the question that came to mind is the one I'd like you to answer: Is being high on oxytocin and dopamine a bad thing?
Of course I don't think so, but I genuinely want to know your opinion on it. I will be posting more on oxytocin and dopamine, because the amount of encounters I've had with them during diagnosis is incredible. I hope this post was entertaining and helpful. :)
Yours truly,
Kat.N
Oxytocin is a feel-good chemical released in your brain that is often associated with emotions like love, comfort and happiness. It's known as the "cuddle drug," because the easiest way to release oxytocin in someone is to give them a hug. My friend is very good friends with this boy, and being around him clearly releases an excessive amount of oxytocin in her brain. My analysis was that there may have been enough released to make her a little bit loopy.
Dopamine also contributed to her attitude while talking to him because she would say something weird and random that she didn't mean -(for example, calling him Jerry even though that is not his name and she does not know anyone named Jerry, and saying that her mother dropped her as a child and then replying with "no she didn't that's a lie I don't know why I said that")- and then instantly replying by saying "that's a lie." Dopamine is a chemical associated with happiness, excitement and risk-taking. Based on what she had sent and her immediate reply, my assumption was that excessive levels of dopamine were also released in her brain while conversing with him.
After my diagnosis, the question that came to mind is the one I'd like you to answer: Is being high on oxytocin and dopamine a bad thing?
Of course I don't think so, but I genuinely want to know your opinion on it. I will be posting more on oxytocin and dopamine, because the amount of encounters I've had with them during diagnosis is incredible. I hope this post was entertaining and helpful. :)
Yours truly,
Kat.N