Dopamine vs Serotonin: The hormones of wellness that can destroy or save the planet

Dopamine vs Serotonin: The first molecule goes together with immediate and short-term pleasure, the second is essential for the regulation of our mood and our pursuit for happiness. When the first increases, the second decreases, leading to states of depression.

Dopamine: short-term effect Pleasure - Motivation - Addiction

Dopamine is responsible for our pleasure, motivation and addictions. It’s this little shot you get when you feel pleasure after accomplishing an action. Dopamine enhances pleasure, motivating us to repeat pleasant experiences. Whenever a goal is reached, fulfilling one of our primary needs, your brain rewards you by releasing dopamine. It’s a short sensation that only lasts for a few minutes, but can be experienced many times during the day.

Dopamine is important for achieving our goals and making us feel alive. We feel it after having accomplished something extraordinary, linked to our survival instincts. Our brain rewards us and motivates us to want more in order to survive. However, as explained in my last article on human needs and ecology, our brain does not differentiate reality from unreal, future or present AND ABOVE ALL, does not take into account the environmental problem. Dopamine, when misused, can be dangerous for our health and our planet.

Serotonin: long-term effect - Happiness

Serotonin is responsible for our mood and makes us feel proud, optimistic, serene and happy. We secrete serotonin when our self-esteem is good and we assess our place in our society as fair. Unconsciously, we need recognition from others in order to evaluate ourselves. The opposite triggers irritability and depression.

Here are examples of situations that make us secrete serotonin:

External :

When receiving compliments from those around us (professional or personal) that make us feel integrated into the environment in which we live. This could be a promotion in a company or an acknowledgment from a colleague, a family member or a friend.

Internal:

When feeling gratitude for yourself. Be proud and recognize yourself for your true value. Here, we should forget about comparing with others and set in place daily positive thoughts. Writing or meditating, for example, are ways that can activate serotonin.

When practicing physical activities on a regular basis, a chemical reaction is triggered in our brain which naturally and positively impacts our mental health.

By working on your serotonin levels, you flood your brain daily with the molecule of happiness. You feel more calm, happy and stable. Do not wait to receive compliments from those around you, do it yourself! Develop positive thinking, your brain loves it!

Now, what is the link with ecology?

One of the biggest problems with our brain is that it will always try to satisfy itself in the easiest way possible. In other words, it will naturally seek its dopamine shot, to the detriment of serotonin. It is conditioned to want to get everything, immediately! The big difference between serotonin and dopamine is time. Dopamine is short-term pleasure. Serotonin is long-term happiness. This explains why most of the time people are impatient. We were conditioned to receive things quickly: Fast food, fast fashion, fast life, fast likes. We therefore chose, intentionally and surely out of laziness (minimization of effort) to receive our shot of dopamine rather than working on the secretion of serotonin.

Oh yes, one last little clarification on dopamine: your brain adapts to what you receive and will always want to ask for more compared to its last dopamine shot. If the action you perform is the same, then you will not be receiving dopamine (Oops). Dopamine is not necessarily the reward molecule, it is the molecule of the new reward. That's why we particularly like new things, new experiences, new creations, NEW PURCHASES! You see where I’m going with this ?! New consumptions of objects and experiences cause dopamine to secrete into our brains. That is why Man seeks to always have more instead of being satisfied with what he already has. Manufacturers understood this pretty well by constantly renewing their collections of clothings, cars and even high tech objects. Dopamine is extremely addictive!

Here we are, facing one of the biggest challenges of our days if we want to fight this ecological war. How to make our brain understand that regardless of how long the path might seem, happiness is not far away (pursuit of pleasure / short-term / dopamine vs pursuit of happiness / long-term / serotonin)?

Dopamine - Pleasure, motivation - Short term

Serotonin - Happiness - Long term

Now which way should we take in order to decrease our ecological impact: Dopamine or Serotonin?

Dopamine is important to accomplish a task or a personal desire.

It gives you motivation (Short term). It’s that little boost you get every time you feel like you’ve accomplished a task (Small tip: Whether the task is big or small, you will get your dopamine shot once the job is done, your brain does not make a difference ;) )

However, if we use it in order to fill a social vacuum through the purchase of clothing or mass consumption, then the use of dopamine is useless for us as well as the environment.

Serotonin is important too. It allows you to find your balance and happiness by feeling integrated into society.

We must therefore manage to dose these two molecules fairly and not abuse one more than the other. Both are essential to our well-being: A motivational shot (Dopamine) in order to achieve a dream and an ideal for yourself (Serotonin).

How to trigger dopamine and serotonin ?

If we take a closer look at it, these hormones are triggered naturally: sport, relationship with humans, positive thinking. In no case are we forced to consume in an unconscious manner in order to feel happy. If we consume, it is the society in which we live that forces us to do so. We are free to escape from this society and build our own. Again, I believe it is possible to change the way we consume and reduce the impact on our planet, without changing our life and our social status. There are several ways to trigger dopamine and serotonin in a natural and free way !! Here are a few :

Music: Listening to music can cause dopamine to be released. X-rays show that the pleasure centers of the brain light up in contact with music, just like other pleasures of life (eating, making love, etc.).

Meditation: Meditating allows you to feel more fulfilled and therefore avoid impulsive and unnecessary purchases that will fill your inner void with external objects. The benefits of meditation have been proven by many studies. Those who practice meditation regularly experience improvements in their ability to learn, greater creativity and a deep state of relaxation. Meditation triggers serotonin and as we said, serotonin equals happiness.

Sleep: Lack of sleep can alter and reduce the number of dopamine receptors in activity. Sleep between 7 and 8 hours a night is recommended to start working with a solid foundation.

Exercise: Exercise is one of the best things we can do for our brain. It increases the production of neurons, slows down their aging and acts on the levels of serotonin and norepinephrine, substances that help us better manage stressful situations.
Gratitude: Adopting an attitude of gratitude by celebrating small victories everyday triggers dopamine and serotonin in your body. The simple fact of having thoughts of gratitude towards yourself increases your well-being.

In summary, it is important to work on our quantity of serotonin at the expense of our dopamine shot. If you are happy (serotonin), then don't worry, you will get your dopamine shots much more often than you think.

And you, what do you choose? Dopamine or Serotonin?

#BeModernGoSerotonine

#BeModernGoDopamine