What is the best way to improve your mood?

Feel like hiding when you’ve been snubbed at a party? Well, don’t because the best way to improve your mood is to make friends, according to scientists. Researchers from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, say the natural hormone oxytocin – which is linked to emotional bonding in childbirth and breastfeeding - helps us reach out to others when we are distressed or feeling socially excluded. Now they hope to use oxytocin to treat people who suffer from mood disorders. Concordia’s Dr Mark Ellenbogen, who carried out the study, said: ‘That means that instead of the traditional ‘fight or flight’ response to social conflict, where people get revved up to respond to a challenge or run away from it, oxytocin may promote the ‘tend and befriend’ response, where people reach out to others for support after a stressful event. ‘That can, in turn, strengthen social bonds and may be a healthier way to cope.’ As part of the study, some participants were given an oxytocin nasal spray then placed into social situations where they were disagreed with, interrupted and ignored. Those who used the spray were more likely to reach out to others. Co-researcher Christopher Cardoso said: ‘Previous studies have shown that natural oxytocin is higher in distressed people, but before this study nobody could say with certainty why that was the case. ‘In distressed people, oxytocin may improve one’s motivation to reach out to others for support. That idea is cause for a certain degree of excitement, both in the research community and for those who suffer from mood disorders.’