Dopamine VS endorphins, which one brings true happiness?

If you are also a heavy patient of short videos, then in the past year, you must have seen a word: dopamine. For example, dopamine outfit, dopamine dance, etc. Here I would like to remind you that the correct pronunciation of dopamine is 胺 (àn), not 安 (ān).

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter secreted by the brain that can affect a person's emotions. Scientists like to use dopamine to explain love. When two individuals develop feelings of love for each other, dopamine and other neurotransmitters are continuously secreted, and people therefore feel "love" and "passion". Unfortunately, our bodies cannot always withstand the stimulation of this feeling, so the brain will gradually cancel this idea and allow these unsatisfactory chemicals to metabolize under the control of the brain. As dopamine decreases and disappears, passion gradually disappears. This can also scientifically explain the old saying "love turns into family affection."

In addition to love, dopamine is also secreted in the brain when we experience something new, exciting, or challenging. Watching short videos, eating sweets, and shopping are all behaviors that stimulate our secretion of dopamine. Another anthropological study showed that people are more profligate when shopping in areas outside of their residential communities. What does this mean? Even if you shop in a new place, you can secrete more dopamine, which brings more pleasure.

But at this point, you may have realized that the happiness brought by dopamine is only temporary. You will regret wasting time after watching short videos all night, gain weight after feasting, and find that you don’t need to buy things after impulse shopping... The cliff-like withdrawal of dopamine will make people feel frustrated, regretful, and self-blame. Do you remember what Rong said in the episode of smart drugs? Dopamine is the propellant that motivates us to do things. Once this mechanism is disrupted, the consequences are terrible.

Some people may ask, does that mean that happiness can only be achieved by stimulating dopamine? Of course not.

When you finally succeed after months of review, when you learn a skill after hard training, when your self-discipline brings you a healthy body... will you feel happy? Of course, this kind of happiness is different from the happiness brought by dopamine. It may even be painful and entangled at the beginning, but when you harvest, you will get a full sense of achievement and happiness. This more valuable source of happiness is endorphins.

Like dopamine, which is also a neurotransmitter secreted by the brain, endorphins are a polypeptide substance composed of multiple amino acids produced by the body itself. It has an effect similar to morphine and can relieve pain and reduce stress by binding to endorphin receptors. Unlike the "instant reward" mechanism of dopamine, endorphins are more like a "bitter first, sweet later" compensation mechanism.

Exercise is the best example. When the amount of exercise exceeds a certain level, the feeling of fatigue and lack of oxygen will gradually turn into pleasure, and this feeling of pleasure can last for a long time after exercise. Otherwise, some people will become addicted to running. Because regular exercise can make the body produce more endorphins. Especially when you engage in sports you like.

Some people say that dopamine happiness is cheap happiness, and only endorphin happiness is advanced. Rongge does not completely agree. In essence, whether it is dopamine or endorphin, it is just a different mechanism of happiness, and the core is still people. It is human instinct to want instant pleasure. Since our life pressure is already very high, why not create some dopamine happiness for ourselves occasionally, but in moderation. The same is true for the pursuit of endorphins, do what you can. In the final analysis, self-disciplined people will be the ultimate winners.