UNHAPPY HORMONES

The stress caused by lockdowns and homebound existence has rekindled interest in the “Happiness Hormones”. WhatsApp groups and Social Media posts are suddenly informing us about Endorphins, Serotonin, Dopamine and Oxytocin and advising us how to generate them in our brains – by exercising, self-gratification, praise, love, dark chocolates and thankfulness. Heretofore a domain of doctors, psychiatrists and psychotherapists, the field of hormones has been laid bare for the common man to venture into and become an expert in his own right. Well, I guess no damage is done by treading the happiness path or by overdoing the dose of happiness. It should only beget more happiness.

What set me thinking, however, was a chord that while deep and extensive study has been done on happiness hormones, which positively affect humans, research that has empowered medical professionals to address depression, sadness and anxiety, no research has been done in the opposite direction. I am sure there are unhappy hormones which not only affect the individual, but society at large and organisations, commercial and non-profit, in many subtle and unexplained ways. I present some possibilities:

The Jealousy Hormone – This affects even happy people (does it?) and is a constant obstacle in the path of healthy growth of individuals and his surroundings. The jealousy hormone makes the jealous pull down the more successful, thwart good deeds, and create an environment of suspicion and distrust in the organisation and society. It makes the patient seethe inside over some amorphous flame, which churns the stomach and burns the heart thus incapacitating the person from doing any fruitful work.

The Revenge Hormone – Revenge is different than anger. The latter is scientifically understood and there are medicines and counsellors available to address it. Revenge is a low intensity, under-the-radar warfare that goes on unnoticed in afflicted minds and erupts out of hiding to cause sudden and massive damage. It can drive the patient to cunning and destructive thoughts, where the target of the devious scheme could be an individual, a department, the whole company, or even the country. Revenge, when it manifests itself after the low-heat simmering, can destroy people, reputations, organisations, and complete nations.

The Frustration Hormone – This hormone creates a constant feeling of inadequacy, of not-having-arrived, and of underachievement in the patient. No matter how high he rises, how much money he earns, or the recognition he gets, there will always be someone higher, richer, and more famous, or at least more loved. The frustration hormone causes sullenness and grumpiness and thereby depresses performance – thus causing further frustration. This hormone is a self-catalysing chemical; a small presence of it in the brain seeds more and more of it.

Cut-throat Hormone – This hormone often coexists with the jealousy hormone and is actually stimulated by the latter. The sufferer tends to harbour a deep-seated hatred for anyone around him who works harder, smarter and achieves more. The cut-throat hormone fuels the patient to sabotage the perceived competitor. No, it is not the Indian crab, who does the pulling-down rather openly and shamelessly. Cutting throat is an act of quietly sitting in ambush and bringing about deft destruction of the other person. It is generally on play between two persons, but if left untreated, becomes an organisational trait and epidemic.

I am sure you can think up of many more brain chemicals like this, such as the Red-Tape Hormone, the Constant-Bickering Hormone and possibly the Sycophancy Hormone. But all these Unhappy Hormones have two things in common – their impact is more widespread than the Happy ones and that they have not been studied as a neurochemical challenge. Indeed, organisational experts and management gurus have merely mentioned the manifest outcome of these chemicals as negative behaviour leading to organisational dysfunction, but never as a brain study.

Understandably doctors will not venture into organisational or social issues. The area belongs to managers and business leaders, even political advisors. Has a time come to join hands and set up an Unhappy Hormones Research Foundation? Maybe if we do so, we will have the pandemic to thank one thing for.