# oxytocin



## INFJane (Apr 6, 2011)

The love and commitment chemical. 









Every once and a while I'll stumble across an article on oxtytocin. They are always fascinating. My NT curiosity can't help but wonder about the physiological aspects that make it feel the way it does. Oxytocin does such amazing things to animals. The affect it has on Autism, and the way it minimizes fears and anxieties in people is remarkable. The way control groups given oxytocin or a placebo during different experiments show such dramatic differences in findings is also amazing. Prairie voles respond so strongly to their mates once their amygdalas have formed memories associated with oxytocin releases.

I want to know what you know. Lets discuss what we know about oxytocin.


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## Dark NiTe (Mar 5, 2012)

It's not that great IMHO. The only thing it seems to "commit" WRT the female whom I share being high on it with, is them to the psych ward. Basically, when it is at its peak of emanation from my body, it turns the one I love into a raving lunatic, and women I come into contact with otherwise can't take their eyes/mind off me (of course not when I'm not committed, though). It's almost like those cheesy Axe commercials from several years ago. Toss in being painful to get in and out of a car seat that is bolstered even a little on the bottom, and I'd rather not, kthnxbye.


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## INFJane (Apr 6, 2011)

Hahaha Raving lunatic... yep that sounds about right. It's as if your brain got you addicted on purpose. But the way everyone responds to oxytocin is different. Some people are terrified of admitting their attraction to someone else. That's dopamine their feeling though, right? Because oxytocin is only released during sex, child birth and breast feeding. Is it released during any other time? Is the feeling of love more so a dopamine thing?


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## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

^
I think being around kids and pets might, at least it releases some sort of really good-feeling chemical in me that puts me in "nurturing mode" or at least "revel in their cuteness mode".


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## Dark NiTe (Mar 5, 2012)

It is released during periods of maximum arousal, regardless of sexual release.


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## INFJRoanna (Dec 20, 2012)

I think it's quite a pesky little chemical, actually. I recently read that the INFJ type usually has the highest levels of oxytocin (it wasn't an article, i was reading a thread by another user) and that oxytocin can impair your memories. I have a really foggy memory sometimes, it's quite annoying :frustrating:


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## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

it induces euphoria in grandparents, helps with uterine tone and, with prolactin, lactation.


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## Death Persuades (Feb 17, 2012)

benr3600 said:


> It is released during periods of maximum arousal, regardless of sexual release.


Lol... No. it can be released by even holding hands, or even just hearing their voice as they call out to you when they get home. I would never call those "maximum arousal."


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## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

Diligent Procrastinator said:


> Lol... No. it can be released by even holding hands, or even just hearing their voice as they call out to you when they get home. I would never call those "maximum arousal."


now I'm thinking maximally aroused grandparents...can't be undone.


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## Eudaimonia (Sep 24, 2013)

There are chemicals that can imitate oxytocin and are found in onions of all things. Dopamine and oxytocin shouldn't be confused. Dopamine is the chemical which tells your brain you are happy and is released when you eat food, drink wine, sink into a hot jacuzzi tub, and feel loved. Oxytocin is the attachment chemical which is released during orgasm and other such before mentioned physical stuff, and just like with the Pavlovian affect, once there is a reminder of that moment when the object is in view or thought about, it is then released in smaller quantities causing that object of desire to be branded in the brain as something to feel loyalty to or protective of or even what one likes to focus on and call "love"... which is what usually happens as a result of a large doses of oxytocin.

As a side, endorphins are happy chemicals too, but they not only start swirling in your brain when you eat chocolate but also are released when feeling pain to help dampen the pain signals. And all those chemicals and more can be released during sex to heighten the experience.

I have a inkling that I have fairly low amounts of oxytocin because don't think I've felt terribly attached to anyone. Now, dopamine is a different story and I think I produce plenty of that. Whoo hoo!


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

Oxytocin in large quantities in the brain create what's known as 'mania' or an extreme sense of euphoria in more modern terms. It can be an addiction is it's ingested to create the feeling. Many drugs mimic the effects but create brain damage so should be avoided at all costs.

Natural amounts of oxytocin that's released in the brain creates a sense of trust and is most commonly released into the brain just after sex along with a cocktail of other feel-good neurochemicals. It is also naturally released into the brain when you have close, intimate, non-sexual moments which are later cemented into fond memories. It is also released when you and your team have experienced a victorious situation which creates a sense of team spirit.

There's much more of course but writing about this is making me tired.


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## stone100674 (Jun 22, 2012)

Love Biochemicals: Oxytocin Myth? | LoveBiochemicals.com


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## Dark NiTe (Mar 5, 2012)

Diligent Procrastinator said:


> Lol... No. it can be released by even holding hands, or even just hearing their voice as they call out to you when they get home. I would never call those "maximum arousal."


Okay. It is released in varying degrees during varying degrees of arousal. I'm sorry that you have either not experienced, or noticed the difference between what I specifically stated and its effects on others, and a significant other stating "I'm home" as they return from work each day.


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## Tezcatlipoca (Jun 6, 2014)

Love Drug? Oxytocin's Tender Effects Questioned | Valentine's Day & Sex | Social Bonding

The dark side of oxytocin -- ScienceDaily

A Love-Hate Relationship?: "Feel-Good" Oxytocin May Have a Dark Side - Scientific American

The Dark Side Of The Love Hormone Oxytocin | Popular Science

The story is much more complex than it being a "love drug." For example, it is correlated with intense psychological pain during social rejection.


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## spylass (Jan 25, 2014)

Oxytocin isn't only a feel-good chemical, it is behind the feeling of Schadenfreude (the feeling of pleasure derived from others' misfortune.) It's effects are still being studied, but there's more to it than fuzzy feelings.


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## Scrabbletray (Apr 27, 2014)

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.” -Neil Gaiman

This is pretty much the exact reason I hate Oxytocin. It creates an irrational NEED for another person whether you want it to or not. Like some of the other posters have noted, Oxytocin isn't just responsible for all of the good things about being in love, it's responsible for all of the bad things too. If you're someone who has experienced way more bad relationships than good then you're bound to hate it.


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

7:30 - oxytocin as a stress hormone

(This is one of my favorite TEDTalks, one of those "perspective-shifting" type of things.)


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## Sharpnel (Aug 3, 2014)

I've read something about a way of administering being researched in hopes to test it on people with Asperger's Syndrome (such as myself). Maybe this means they've advanced in the research since last year? I can't really wrap my head around what it must feel like having whatever it is that I lack. I mean... what will change? Will it really help me understand social cues better? Or what it is they are trying to "cure" exactly? 

It will probably be a temporary "drug", if it ever lands on the shelves.
Hopefully, fully tested and with no side-effects. :V


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## Stelmaria (Sep 30, 2011)

The focus of this discussion is bizarre. What matters is where the chemical goes and what it activates (or inhibits). Merely measuring activity levels of parts of the brain that secrete oxytocin (or other neurotransmitters) or even levels in the spinal fluid during particular behaviour and then somehow jumping to a bunch of conclusions is woolly science at best.

Most of these discussions are going to be very speculative until we have a much better understanding of brain structures.


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## tangosthenes (Oct 29, 2011)

ninjahitsawall said:


> 7:30 - oxytocin as a stress hormone
> 
> (This is one of my favorite TEDTalks, one of those "perspective-shifting" type of things.)


What if the belief that stress harms you is caused by there being an actual physiological difference to stress in different people. Some people could experience stress as a natural feeling of growth and expansion and another could experience it as a sign of actual bodily destruction or tension.


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## Stelmaria (Sep 30, 2011)

tangosthenes said:


> What if the belief that stress harms you is caused by there being an actual physiological difference to stress in different people. Some people could experience stress as a natural feeling of growth and expansion and another could experience it as a sign of destruction or tension.


Good question. Much of the discussion about stress (and hormones like cortisol) in scientific publications is highly speculative, bordering on pseudoscience. Just my opinion of course.

I mean the primary purpose of cortisol is not a 'stress hormone', but you certainly don't get that impression (eg that it is a healthy and necessary hormone) when you read the literature.


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

tangosthenes said:


> What if the belief that stress harms you is caused by there being an actual physiological difference to stress in different people. Some people could experience stress as a natural feeling of growth and expansion and another could experience it as a sign of actual bodily destruction or tension.


Yeah. Bit of a chicken-egg situation. What comes first, the beliefs or the physiological response?


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