Heartfelt Emotions

All of us have prejudices about others. We tend to believe that most of these are formed by virtue of our perception of peoples behaviour and attitudes towards us.

All of us have prejudices about others. We tend to believe that most of these are formed by virtue of our perception of peoples behaviour and attitudes towards us. We label people as jovial,aggressive,moody,gloomy,cheerful,benevolent or carefree without realizing that it is actually the hormones in their systems which are responsible for this classification. These personifications or states of mind are largely regulated by chemicals known as hormones,produced by endocrine glands. They can make us feel ecstatic over small joys,sulk for nothing or feel blessed for all the good virtues. Life is actually an exotic cauldron of emotions and these hormones are the delicious spices which add flavour to it.

Hormones & our body: For years psychologists had maintained that emotions were purely mental expressions generated by the brain alone. However with time,it became clear that our emotions and behaviour are actually governed by a concert of efforts by the brain,endocrine glands and various organs.

We may know somebody as being assertive,prepared with a perpetual battle-cry attitude and having a furious temperament,but truly speaking the poor soul may actually be fighting an overdose of sympathomimetic catecholamines. Or those love birds who are completely smitten by each other,are actually being compelled by high levels of serotonin and dopamine,the love hormones.

There are occasions when tranquillity descends upon us,which might,in fact,be due to the overflowing rush of oxytocin hormone. Oxytocin is also responsible for the maternal instinct in women,of showering selfless and bountiful love towards their children. Our sleep is governed by melatonin which regulates bodys internal clock to maintain the cycle of sleep and wakefulness. During deep sleep we may have surges of growth hormone which in essence,helps to repair and rebuild body tissues. Blessed souls who can sleep like a child,are able to maintain their youthful vigor and vitality for a long time for this reason. We may at times attain a natural-high and feel blessed. This is,in reality,on account of the release of endorphins. They are the bodys feel-good hormones and natural pain medications. As we grow old many of our bodys hormones become deficient resulting in irritability,depression and loss of enthusiasm. Not only our emotions change,but propensity to develop heart disease,bone loss and sleep disorders increase due to age related deviation in hormones.

Blame it on hormones: It takes all of us to make this world. If there are times when you are left wondering about that irrational and unexpected act of yours,or when some bodys behaviour had completely baffled and bemused you,it is now convenient to blame it on hormones. Those compulsive shoppers who find shopping pleasurable and a great stress buster or those chocolates cravers who can practically live their entire life on chocolates or those unpredictable as English weather bosses with their erratic,annoying and awful habits,might just be poor souls,nurturing their hormones and trying to live with them.

(The writer is an interventional senior consultant cardiologist at INSCOL hospital,Chandigarh and Fortis Hospital,Mohali)

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Heartfelt Emotions

All of us have prejudices about others. We tend to believe that most of these are formed by virtue of our perception of peoples behaviour and attitudes towards us.

All of us have prejudices about others. We tend to believe that most of these are formed by virtue of our perception of peoples behaviour and attitudes towards us.