(A Joyous) News Story: Trust Drug May Cure Social Phobia

“A nasal spray which increases our trust for strangers is showing promise as a treatment for social phobia, say scientists from Zurich University.

They found that people who inhaled the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin continued to trust strangers with their money – even after they were betrayed.

Brain scans showed the hormone lowered activity in the amygdala – a region which is overactive in social phobics.

Drug trials are under way and early signs are promising say the scientists.

Nicknamed the ‘cuddle chemical,’ oxytocin is a naturally produced hormone, which has been shown to play a role in social relations, maternal bonding, and also in sex.

Lead researcher Dr Thomas Baumgartner said: ‘We now know for the first time what exactly is going on in the brain when oxytocin increases trust.

We found that oxytocin has a very specific effect in social situations. It seems to diminish our fears.

Based on our results, we can now conclude that a lack of oxytocin is at least one of the causes for the fear experienced by social phobics.

‘We hope and indeed we expect that we can improve their sociability by administering oxytocin.'”

My Comment: Here we’ve been wondering how to change human nature so people would start trusting each other, being friends, and loving and caring for one another, but now all you have to do is take a sniff, and then you’re already like the Creator!

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