Oxytocin

Sometimes referred to as the “Trust Hormone”, oxytocin helps mothers bond with their child, reduce social fears, creates sexual arousal, makes people more generous, and relieves stress and pain. Wow, doesn’t that sound awesome?! If you are wondering how to gain such pleasurable experiences, look no further than your own body. This hormone is in all of us and all we need to do is simply shake someone’s hand because body contact releases low levels of oxytocin. If you want to release high levels, physically interacting with the ones you love will do so.

Oxytocin is released during and after birth. When you see a mother bonding with her child by hugging and gazing after birth, oxytocin is also being released. Orgasm and the relaxed feeling after sex is another result of this hormone being released.

So I would say this is a very pleasurable and loving hormone.

When released, the hormone gives individuals more confidence in interacting with other people because of the reduction in anxiety.

After reading about this hormone I began to wonder if it had been used to help people with social disorders.

Because oxytocin helps with heightened social interaction, scientist conducted studies to see whether increasing this hormone would help cure autism. Autistic people have a hard time making social bonds because they cannot seem to recognize social cues or facial expression. After presenting this hormone in a tablet or nasal spray to these autistic children, they are better able to recognize social expression, which leads to a more pleasant social experience.