Blog #1

 Are you Happy?

Happiness, defined as the emotion at which the highest level of serotonin mostly characterized by when a person does something he enjoys. However, there is another definition of happiness which defines it by the burst of dopamine which is defined as a short burst of euphoria.

So, what are you experiencing?   

Most people in their mundane life mostly experiences the latter which you cannot define as happiness because you have to understand the nature of dopamine. Dopamine mostly comes at quick actions and is defined as a quick happiness hormone. it is mostly achieved by task which does not requires you to break your sweat such as in simple terms masturbation, chatting with your friends or partners (in modern era partners Hehe), and etc. The thing with this happiness is that it is short term but heavily detrimental to one's mental health often draining and causing severe exhaustion. Simultaneously it does lowers itself each time meaning you need to increase the dose more and more to get the same effect and ones get stuck in an endless cycle of getting more and more. The best example of this behavior is the drugs, on starts with smoking and then just goes towards a downward spiral. So, achieving happiness through this method does not seems quite the ideal case.

Now we be talking about our second guest of honor Serotonin. Frankly, I don't know the difference between both in the composition wise but hey I am not interested in lecturing you on the mechanic though let me just rant, while serotonin is C₁₀H₁₂N₂O and is scientifically called 5-hydroxytryptamine dopamine on the other hand is C₈H₁₁NO₂ and  4-(2-aminoethyl)benzene-1,2-diol. With both of them coming through different pathways and affecting differently, while Serotonin

Pathway	Projects to	Functions

Rostral Raphe Pathway

Cerebral cortex, hippocampus, limbic system

Regulates mood, anxiety, cognition, memory

Caudal Raphe Pathway

Spinal cord

Pain modulation, motor control

Peripheral Serotonin (from gut)

Enteric nervous system

Regulates digestion, appetite, and gut motility

Dopamine:

Pathway	Projects to	Functions

Mesolimbic Pathway

Nucleus accumbens, amygdala

Reward, pleasure, reinforcement of behaviors

Mesocortical Pathway

Prefrontal cortex

Attention, planning, motivation, emotional regulation

Nigrostriatal Pathway

Striatum (caudate + putamen)

Movement control; degeneration leads to Parkinson’s disease

Tuberoinfundibular Pathway

Hypothalamus to pituitary

Hormonal regulation, especially inhibiting prolactin

so sorry for my tangent rant So here’s the breakdown, in case you’re tired of hearing people use these words in self-diagnosing Instagram captions. Let’s start with serotonin — the chemical that says, “Hey, you’re fine. Chill out. Let’s take a nap and maybe eat a banana.” It’s not trying to hype you up or make you fall in love with someone’s jawline. It just wants you to feel okay. Not amazing — just... fine. It’s the therapist of neurotransmitters. It stabilizes your mood, helps you sleep, manages digestion, and generally keeps you from spiraling into a puddle of existential dread.

Fun fact: most of your serotonin isn’t even in your brain. It’s in your gut, which honestly explains a lot. Anxious? Can’t eat. Depressed? Constant bloating. Your brain and stomach are basically in a toxic relationship, mediated by serotonin.

Now enter dopamine. Dopamine is that chaotic friend who convinces you to make a spontaneous life decision at 3 AM. It’s all about motivation, reward, excitement, and “Yes, let’s absolutely do this right now even though it makes zero long-term sense.” When you finally finish a task you’ve been procrastinating for two weeks and feel like a god? That’s dopamine. When you impulsively text your ex because the nostalgia hit just right? Also dopamine.

It gets produced in places with names like “substantia nigra” and “ventral tegmental area,” which sound fancy but basically mean “this is where your bad decisions are born.” It's tied to movement too, which is why when those dopamine neurons start dying off — like in Parkinson’s — people lose motor control. See? It’s not just about chasing vibes.

What really cracks me up is how people act like more of either chemical is always better. Like, yeah sure, crank up your dopamine and you’ll be SUPER motivated — right into burnout or addiction. Or max out your serotonin and you’ll be a Zen monk... with no drive to actually do anything except exist peacefully on a yoga mat. We need balance, people. Yin and yang. Vibe and grind. Calm and chaos.

And of course, the meds. SSRIs? They're like serotonin’s little cheerleaders, hyping it up so your brain stops being so mean to itself. Stimulants? Basically dopamine espresso shots. Antipsychotics? The bouncers at the dopamine party when it gets out of hand. Every mental health med you’ve heard of? Probably messing with one of these two chemicals.

So yeah. Serotonin and dopamine are both important. But no, they are not the same thing. Serotonin keeps you sane. Dopamine keeps you moving. One keeps you from crying in the shower. The other is the reason you thought quitting your job to become a street magician was a good idea for three whole days.

Know the difference. Your brain will thank you.