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What Makes You Feel Good/What Makes You Feel Bad
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By Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psycho
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Emotional Intelligence is all about self-awareness,understanding how emotions work within you and others. Ourfeelings are regulated by neurotransmitters such as serotonin,norepinephrine, and dopamine. Here are some things to know aboutserotonin, called the ¡°feel good¡± neurotransmitter.
Research indicates that low levels of serotonin in the brain canlead to the underlying inability to handle powerful feelingswhich can results in impulsive acts, aggressive behaviors, poorjudgment, and self-destructive tendencies. According to theSociety for Neuroscience, in experiments, monkeys with lessserotonin are the ones who take daring jumps from the trees andinjure themselves. Rats low in serotonin do risky things inexperiments, and also accept small immediate rewards instead ofwaiting for a bigger prize.
Restoring levels of serotonin in the body relieves symptoms ofdepression and anxiety. According to Carolyn Meltzer, MD,serotonin receptors decrease significantly with age, up to 55%,so as you age, keep this in mind.
How do we get more serotonin or use what we have better?According to Dr. Allan Lieberman, MC, FAAEM, vitamin B6 andmagnesium can elevate it. Some natural sources are bananas,pumpkin seeds, peanuts, tomatoes, plums, avocadoes, pineapple,eggplant and walnuts.
Antidepressants work with the serotonin you produce; they don¡¯tmake more of it. Your body produces serotonin throughL-tryptophan. L-tryptophan is present in pork, duck and turkey.According to Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Glenmullen, author of¡°Prozac Backlash,¡± (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743200624/susandunnmome-20 ) it can also be enhanced by talk therapy and by aerobicexercise such as jogging or dance.
Touch also increases serotonin during massage and decreases painlevels, improves sleep patterns, decreases fatigue, anxiety,depression and cortisol levels in fibromyalgia patients,according to the International Journal of Neurology.
Another important source of serotonin can be increased light.Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D., National Institute of Mental Health,feels that the intensity of the light is what counts, not thespectrum. However full-spectrum light used in the poultryindustry causes chickens to live twice as long, be calmer andless aggressive, and produce eggs 25% lower in cholesterol.Apparently, even human cholesterol levels drop when people areexposed to sunlight.
Non-full-spectrum lighting, which is often used in work places,has been shown to create hormones ACTH and cortisol in levelsconsidered stressful.
Being around water can help some people feel better. Researchhas shown that a cruise can be beneficial to your wellness.
There are more tips about feeling better in "Depression: TheNeed to Go Within," (http://www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.html ) by Susan Dunn.
In sum, part of emotional self-awareness means becoming aware ofwhat physical factors innate to you enhance your mood ¨C thefoods you eat, the chemicals you put into your body, theexercise you get or don¡¯t get, and your surroundings.
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