Certain activities can duplicate pleasurable feelings we get from drugs. And generosity is one of them.
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As much as the conversation goes on about drug use and abuse, people don’t seem to understand it is actually part-pleasurable or was at the set off. Before it was addictive, uncontrollable, and debilitating to mental and physical well-being, it was bliss. Intoxicants hook people by hitting on feel-good hormones in the brain. That’s how most end up addicted to those highs, slowly losing hold of their lives. In Ethiopia, substance abuse is among the leading causes of mental distress.
Chasing a buzz is only human. We make it through life by avoiding pain and going after what brings us happiness. Some fall for the shortcuts to bliss, winding up entangled in substance abuse. Neuroscientific studies discovered, however, that drugs might be overrated as feel-good highs. Certain activities can duplicate those pleasurable feelings, but without the detrimental effects on holistic health. One vital area of their exploration was generosity.
Why being kind is ecstatic
An experiment reported results of FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) where generous acts stroked the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens), significantly raising its activity. This region is considered key to the reward system of the brain, which works by releasing dopamine, similar to getting high or being involved in pleasurable acts like sex. A different blood test experiment observed an oxytocin spike of 27.5 % after subjects were engaged in willful giving. The activation of crucial brain areas and the release of the rewarding neurochemicals bring about euphoric effects.
Those in pursuit of pleasure, forming unhealthy dependence on substances, live in a dose or death cycle, barely living. But science says charitable activities provoke similar brain alterations. Generosity proved to have a far-reaching impact than the religious and moral proposition. It parallels substance-induced reward pathways in our brain, reducing stress, enhancing mood, and generating feelings of fulfilment. Its benefits came out even greater for the altruists than for those at the receiving end.
Rethinking your favorite fix
Messing with drugs isn’t as cool as it sounds in the lyrics, nor does it keep you as collected as in the movies. No one signs up for the not-so-glamorous trail down to the desperate pits of addiction, but the promise of the high keeps people captive. How about forging the high through a different ride free of all the disgrace? Instead of giving up power to chemicals through consistent binging, the pleasurable rush of dopamine and endorphin can be triggered by volunteering, being there for a troubled friend, or sponsoring a meal for the hungry. This has turned out to be a milder but healthier fix.
