Emotions

What Do They Have To Do with a Clean House?

Emotions such as anger, love, joy and sadness change the biochemistry of the brain. Busy-ness brings an adrenaline high. Maybe that's why those who get too busy keep it up. They need higher and higher doses to get the rush. Brain chemicals like serotonin, a feel-good chemical, are thought-generated. Serotonin is one of the chemicals released into the body when the body gears up to take command. Capacity to elevate serotonin level quickly seems to bring dominance. This is probably why people who want power seek it. It feels much better for them to be in charge than for them to be passive or subordinate. A male monkey leader has twice the blood level of serotonin as the other males in the community. If that leader is taken away from the community, for whatever reason, his serotonin level reverts back to the level of the other males in the group. However, females respond to elevated serotonin level in the male and this causes a mellowing out in the dominant male, keeping the other males away and allowing the dominance. On the other hand some people like the subordinate feeling because it requires less action and has relatively little "high."

Here's an interesting piece of information: Decreased levels of serotonin have been found in women suffering PMS. Add another piece: Tryptophane breaks down into serotonin. Add yet another piece to those: Bananas are high in tryptophane. I'll let you come to your own conclusion.