Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels

by Loretta Graziano Breuning

Every happy-chemical spurt is quickly metabolized and you have to do more to get more. You can end up overdoing a happy habit to the point of unhappiness.

Dopamine produces the joy of finding things that meet your needs—the “Eureka! I got it!” feeling. Endorphin produces oblivion that masks pain—often called euphoria. Oxytocin produces the feeling of being safe with others—now called bonding. Serotonin produces the feeling of being respected by others—pride.

Dopamine motivates you to get what you need, even when it takes a lot of effort. Endorphin motivates you to ignore pain, so you can escape from harm when you’re injured. Oxytocin motivates you to trust others, to find safety in companionship. Serotonin motivates you to get respect, which expands your mating opportunities and protects your offspring.

Your limbic system needs your cortex to make sense of your pleasure and pain. But your cortex cannot produce happy chemicals. If you want to be happy, you have to get it from your limbic system.

You can stop a vicious cycle in one instant. Just resist that “do something” feeling and live with the cortisol.

The pain of resisting a habit eases once a new habit forms. You can do that in forty-five days if you repeat a new thought or behavior every day without fail. If you miss a day, start over with Day One. The new choice will not make you happy on Day One, and it may not make you happy on Day Forty. Even on Day Forty-Five, it cannot trigger happy chemicals constantly. But it will invite enough electricity to free you from a vicious cycle.

You have probably heard about the rat wired up to electrically stimulate its “pleasure center” by pressing a lever. The rat seized the day, pressing constantly until it dropped dead. It would not stop for food or water or attractive mates. Scientists presumed the electrode was triggering pleasure.

Every brain learns to link effort and reward, whether material rewards, social rewards, or relief from a threat.

Endorphin masks pain for a short time, which promotes survival by giving an injured mammal a chance to reach safety.

Serotonin is the sensation that it’s safe to go ahead and meet your needs.

The first step to happier habits is to do nothing when your cortisol starts giving you a threatened feeling.

Each time you divert your electricity in a new direction, you strengthen your new circuit. It all starts when you accept a bad feeling for a moment instead of rushing to make it go away.

If you do nothing, you create space for a new circuit to grow. Learn to notice the impulse to relieve threatened feelings with happy habits.

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW DOPAMINE STRATEGIES? Make a list of remodeling projects that can work for you in each of the following categories: Celebrate small victories Take steps toward a new goal Divide an unpleasant task into small parts Keep adjusting the bar

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW ENDORPHIN STRATEGIES? Make a list of remodeling projects that can work for you in each of the following categories: Laugh Cry Exercise differently Stretch Make exercise fun

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW OXYTOCIN STRATEGIES? Make a list of remodeling projects that can work for you in each of the following categories: Build on “proxy” trust Place stepping stones Be trustworthy Build a trust verification system Get a massage

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW SEROTONIN STRATEGIES? Make a list of remodeling projects that can work for you in each of the following categories: Express pride in what I’ve done Enjoy my social position in each moment Notice my influence Make peace with something I can’t control

THESE TOOLS WILL HELP YOU TRAIN YOUR BRAIN Mirror: find someone with the habit you want and mirror them. Balance: develop the happy chemicals you’re not already best at. Graft: build new happy circuits onto old happy roots. Energy: save your energy for tough challenges. Legacy: preserve your unique individual essence to please your inner mammal. Fun: find the fun in a new behavior and you will repeat it. Chunk: divide difficult challenges into smaller parts. Satisfice: a satisfactory solution may be better than an endless quest for optimal. Plan: start building circuits now so they’re ready when you need them. Visualize: your neural pathways are building even though they’re not visible.