Post created by Annika
Valentine’s Day.
The day where love is celebrated, Instagram is flooded with couple’s pictures, every room is decorated in red and pink, and boyfriends are pressured by retail stores to spend lots of money on chocolates and flowers for their girlfriends to make them fall in love with them again.
Ah, our favorite holiday!
I’m just kidding. I actually really enjoy that we have a day where people are reminded to celebrate the love they have in their lives, whether significant others, friends, or other things they hold near and dear to their hearts. It’s sweet…once you move past all the commercialization.
But do we actually know what goes on within our bodies that moment you receive a valentine from the cute boy who you sit next to in class your why you feel panic before asking that girl out on a date?
Well, look no further! I am here to save you from your queries and questions and introduce you to the big little world that is your HORMONES!
Your hormones basically control a lot of your body processes. They tell you when you need to pee, how fast your heart needs to be pumping, and are that flood of energy (or panic. Could also be panic) you get before taking a big test. They also do less noticeable things in your body like control how much calcium is in your bloodstream or help to do functions like digesting all that chocolate you just consumed, right?
So let's follow this. Say you were nervous to approach this cute girl you wanted to ask to be your valentine. What probably be happening? Your heartbeat might be beating rapidly, your palms might feel sweaty, your breathing might be quicker, your body overall might have this feeling like you just need to RUN. Well, congratulations! Your sympathetic nervous system is up and running! You are in flight or fight mode! (Do NOT fight this girl. She will not become your valentine this way. Trust me!)
https://www.hormone.org/diseases-and-conditions/adrenal-insufficiency
When you are nervous it is pretty much the same hormonal gang teaming up to knock you down. Your somatic nervous system signals to your adrenal glands to secrete hormones called adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol.
Adrenaline (also called epinephrine), often paired with norepinephrine, kicks off the whole system into the flight or fight mode. This is what keeps your muscles tense, makes you breathe faster, and causes you to start sweating. Your blood vessels dilate to allow more blood flow to muscles and the brain to give you the ability to make any quick movements you might need to do. Like, run away in fear when the girl says no! (Yikes, sorry dude).
Norepinephrine is like a back-up system for adrenaline. It’s basically like your body’s back up system to make sure you really get the energy kick when you need it.
And then the lovely cortisol. The steroids that really push you over the edge.
Now, don’t get lost!
The hypothalamus sends corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) to the pituitary gland, and then the pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to tell the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Got it? Great.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/in-the-brain-romantic-love-is-basically-an-addiction
But the cortisol is actually majorly important to maintaining homeostasis during your body-wide adrenaline freak out. It makes sure that your blood pressure and fluid levels are balanced. It slows or stops some of the other systems like the digestive or reproductive systems to allow blood to be focused in places that it needs to, like the muscles and brain.
So now you know! When you are stressed out on Valentine’s Day, just know that it’s also the exact same reaction your body would have if you were being attacked by a bear. Feels like the same thing though, doesn’t it?
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