Oxytocin – The Nearest Thing to a Love Drug.

Have you ever wondered why it is that we form such close emotional connections with other people? Why we fall in love with that certain someone? Or form such deep attachments with friends? You only have to look at a new Mum gazing at her new born baby to see just how strong these bonds can be. We’re even capable of forming close ties with our pets - after all most of us think of the family pet as being another member of the family.

Whilst most of us put these close relationships down to “feelings”, scientists now know that when we talk about “the chemistry” that exists between two people there really is something chemical going on. And that something is oxytocin - mother nature’s own love drug.  If you were to ever make a love potion then oxytocin would have to be the key component.

So what is oxytocin?

Oxytocin is a hormone that is produced naturally in the hypothalamus located deep inside the brain close to the brain stem. The hypothalamus releases the oxytocin that it produces either directly into other parts of the brain or into the blood stream via the pituitary gland.

Emotionally, oxytocin produces feelings of closeness, attachment and bonding. Physically it’s intricately involved in the menstrual cycle, childbirth, sexual intimacy and counters the effects of stress.

What causes oxytocin to be released?

Environmental stimuli, including skin-to-skin contact, play a huge part in the oxytocin story.  In fact being touched anywhere on the body causes oxytocin levels to rise and heightens that warm fuzzy bonding feeling.  Rising oxytocin levels trigger a whole series of events that lead to both biological and physical arousal. In fact, oxytocin is so in tune with our need for closeness and human contact that even cuddling someone can result in oxytocin release - no wonder some people call it the “cuddle hormone”.

Oxytocin's affect on the brain is greatly dependent on its interactions with sex hormones such as estrogen, and testosterone. As the 'cuddle hormone' oxytocin requires the presence of estrogen. This fact may partially explain some of the behavioral differences between the sexes when it comes to intimacy and touch because women produce vastly more estrogen than men.

Oxytocin and childbirth

Every month during a woman’s fertile years oxytocin is responsible for causing the lining of the uterus to be expelled, unless, of course, she is pregnant. During childbirth, oxytocin helps to trigger uterine contractions and then to deliver the placenta after the baby has been born. If a woman’s labour slows, she’ll often be given oxytocin to try and help speed things up and most women receive synthetic oxytocin to encourage a speedy and effective third stage of labour.

In the post partum period (the time after birth), oxytocin levels remain high.  Oxytocin not only exerts its influence physically on the new mum by causing the placenta to clamp down, bleeding to stop and milk to flow but it also has a huge physical impact that’s responsible for the bonding that takes place between mother and baby.

Oxytocin and sex

As we’ve already seen, oxytocin is inextricably linked with sexual intimacy and it loves sexual foreplay.  It causes us to experience feelings of intimacy and sexual desire which result in us engaging in behaviour that leads to more oxytocin being released. The more our oxytocin levels rise, the more we become aroused and engage in behaviour that causes even more oxytocin to be released until eventually we reach a point of orgasm. By this time oxytocin levels in men have quintupled but in women, who require more oxytocin if they are to orgasm, levels have reached stratospheric proportions. If a woman’s brain becomes flooded with oxytocin, she may achieve multiple orgasms.

Research has also shown that women who were currently involved in a committed relationship experienced greater oxytocin swells in response to positive emotions than single women, leading researchers to speculate that a close, regular relationship may influence the responsiveness of the hormone. This would suggest, therefore, that women in committed relationships have better sex!

Oxytocin and stress

Researchers now think that oxytocin may be able to counter the effects of stress, help regulate sleep patterns, calm you down and help promote an overall sense of wellbeing. Not only does stress aggravate just about every medical condition, it also causes levels of the hormone cortisol to rise.  Although we need some cortisol if our bodies are to function properly, too much cortisol is bad for us. High levels of cortisol are associated with such things as increased blood pressure, obesity, disrupted sleep, depression, anxiety and heart disease.  Unfortunately, if we are stressed, our cortisol levels rise.

Oxytocin may even be capable of turning potentially stressful experiences into experiences that are full of love and deep happiness. Childbirth is a prime example of this!

With all these positive attributes, it’s no wonder that people love oxytocin.