Why Spending Time With Friends Boosts Your Oxytocin

Depression, feeling blue and sad can seem like an uphill battle. Even just temporary sadness can set us back and we begin to withdraw.

This article in Mindbodygreen explains how oxytocin works on the brain and 9 activities you can engage in to help you feel better whether or not your are on antidepressants.

“Studies have even shown that having the support of friends and family causes antidepressants to work more successfully. As people’s depression improved, their social support networks did too, building even more positive momentum. In other words, being social helps you pull out of depression, and getting better helps you be more social. It’s a real win/win.

Depression is a dysfunction in the communication between your brain’s frontal lobe, your thinking brain, and limbic system which controls autonomic bodily functions, like breathing and heart beat, and endocrine function, particularly in response to emotional stimuli. Research has shown that emotional support enhances activity in the frontal lobe and turns down the response of the limbic system.”

Click here to read more….