#thisisporntome

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[jesstify]

Oxytocin and attachment styles

From an article on oxytocin (the love hormone):

"We decided to look at the interpersonal characteristics of individual women to see if there was a correlation with changes in their oxytocin levels," said Turner, who is also the director of Student Research at the California School of Professional Psychology, Alameda campus. "We found a significant difference between women who reported distress and anxiety in their relationships and women who were more secure in their relationships."

...Women whose oxytocin levels rose in response to massage and remembering a positive relationship reported having little difficulty setting appropriate boundaries, being alone, and trying too hard to please others. Women whose oxytocin levels fell in response to remembering a negative emotional relationship reported greater problems with experiencing anxiety in close relationships.

"It seems that having this hormone "available" during positive experiences, and not being depleted of it during negative experiences, is associated with well-being in relationships," said Turner.

In addition, women who were currently involved in a committed relationship experienced greater oxytocin increases in response to positive emotions than single women. The researchers speculate that a close, regular relationship may influence the responsiveness of the hormone, said Turner.

// Currently struggling through a paper that mentioned oxytocin, the hormone related to monogamy, love, cuddles, and orgasms. Doing background research and grinned when I saw this. Fascinating stuff.

[jesstify]

Love this

Learned today: Your tears contain different chemicals depending on if they are happy tears, sad tears, or produced just to clean something out of your eyes. They even taste differently.

Thus... Strong emotional surges -> produces toxins in your body -> and like sweat, tears expunge these toxins from your body.

Hum. Either I start sweating more, or learn to start crying. Adds perspective to why I so enjoyed baking quietly in a sauna whenever I was heartbroken or generally sad about something. Negative emotions are, quite literally, toxic to you.

In either case, note to self: if you experience moments of emotional thickness, don't forget to do something to remove the resulting toxins from your body. Exercise, watch Armegeddon, I dunno. It may help lighten your spirit and clear some of the unhappy grit from your eyes. Sweet.