The Meaning of Life: Christmas Edition

According to psychologist Deborah Serani, “Christmas decorating will spike dopamine, a feel-good hormone. It does create that neurological shift that can produce happiness. - todaysmama.com
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What Makes Us Happy:
​It's Easy as 1-2-3

Three feel-good brain chemicals are responsible for the happiness you experience - dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. And they are in abundant supply during the Christmas season, making it the most wonderful time of the year.

The joy surrounding Christmas may influence some of the chemicals in your brain (dopamine and serotonin) which affect your happiness levels. Dopamine is known to be involved with reward-driven behaviour and pleasure seeking and serotonin is thought to increase our feelings of worth and belonging. So when people talk about Christmas cheer they may be on to something. - 5 Ways Christmas Affects Your Brain
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Of Course, You Love
Christmas

So it’s no wonder you love Hallmark Christmas movies so much. You get to experience dopamine rushes and serotonin increases over and over again. 

And researchers tied the togetherness we often experience during the Christmas season with an increase of the hormone oxytocin. 

For those of us who get depressed because we are sensitive to the loss of sunlight during the winter season, or who are grieving a loss, those moments, available 24 hours a day, would be very powerful indeed.

And anyone who has challenges that get in the way of experiencing everyday happiness would be well-served by frequent exposure to the Hallmark Christmas movie phenomenon.

But once Christmas is over, you lose it as an anchor, or a reliable source of those brain chemicals. Which means you need something to replace it.

That problem of needing and choosing replacements is what we will be taking about next week.

See you tomorrow!

​Love, Jeanine

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