Oxytocin: The wonder drug curing post-pandemic depression

Madison Del Sontro, Contributing Writer

It’s the “drug” everyone’s addicted to. It’s the drug we need to thrive. While it is not a medication, but a hormone our bodies produce, it’s argued we cannot live without it. Day by day, we strive to reach our daily requirement for it. So what is this wonder drug? Why is it so important? What happens when we don’t have enough?

Depression rates have increased 25% percent since 2020. Notably, 2020 was the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the world has slowly reverted back to its state before COVID-19, it appears that the societal damages run deep.

People are losing their sense of community. We are alienating ourselves and losing social interaction. In fact, since 2020, the amount of people working remotely at least one day a week, instead of in an interactive office space, is now 36%. These people spend at least eight hours per day in an isolated environment.

COVID-19 has also been the cause for a massive decrease in third spaces.

Coffee shops, bowling alleys, gyms, shopping malls, public parks and other public facilities are all third spaces. These are spaces we can go to interact with others, unwind and meet others of similar interests. The pandemic is highly responsible for the closure of most of these spaces, technology also contributes to their increasing rate of disuse.

Nowadays, most people have turned to social media for a sense of community. Half of Americans reported feeling “alone” or “lonely.” So what exactly does this lack of social interaction mean for our future?

So what is this wonder “drug” and how do depression statistics and a worldwide decrease in mental health play into our understanding of it?

It’s oxytocin. 

It’s not medication. It’s not a prescription. Whether or not you want it, oxytocin already exists in all of us and we reap its benefits. If you have ever felt the satisfaction of hugging that special person or felt the joy of achieving a certain accomplishment, you have experienced the positive impact of this hormone. It’s the result of every joy that has blessed you along your path and the ones that are yet to come.

Everyone has felt oxytocin’s effects. I feel them when I’m with my friends, when I hug my parents or when my dog lies on my lap. I feel its effects when the blazing sun tans my skin or when a bird sings.

Love. In other words, we love love. To exist — to really exist to our fullest potential —  we have to maximize our oxytocin. Less time needs to be spent on the artificial and more needs to be spent on what’s real — on what’s right in front of us.

While the pandemic has been the leading cause of the deterioration of mental health in general, we have also not done much to reverse the damage done. We have increasingly allowed ourselves to become less social and more reliant on the virtual.

It may sound like a fairytale and too simple in a society focused on the tedious, but maybe the best solutions are the ones that were always there in front of us. When was the last time you told someone you loved them? When was the last time you reached out to someone you cared for? 

We thrive off of social interaction. Healthy relationships bring us happiness, lower chances of depression and anxiety, higher chances of life longevity and an improved outlook on life. Therefore, having a lack of healthy relationships in our lives ultimately decreases our quality of life.

We are designed to give out love. We are designed to be loved. For a moment, put down the superficial and let the real overtake you. Are you receiving enough oxytocin?