5 unusual ways to keep a good mood during quarantine

Everyone advises us to watch TV shows, spend active time with the family, think less about bad things and find some kind of hobby… All this, of course, is good, but, unfortunately, it does not always work.

In such cases, it's time to turn to other non-standard methods of improving mood during quarantine. The director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine of St. Petersburg State University, scientific director of the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies of St. Petersburg State University and one of the most cited scientists in the world (according to WoS), Professor Raul Gainetdinov, spoke about them.

According to some studies, the concentration of serotonin can vary, depending on how much sunlight a person receives. This is due to the fact that the process of synthesis of this substance is regulated by vitamin D, which we just get under the influence of the sun. That is why residents of the northern regions, where most of the year there is cloudy weather, often have the so-called seasonal depression.

But since the quarantine does not allow us to catch vitamin D on the street right now, we will have to use other methods. According to the doctor, to get your "dose" of the sun, it is enough to go out on the balcony more often and open the windows.

It is quite logical that the lack of walking in the fresh air leads to a lack of oxygen in the body, and therefore, an imbalance of neurotransmitters. After all, this vital gas is also involved in the synthesis of serotonin. Now they even practice the treatment of depression using the method of hyperbaric oxygenation — when the patient's blood is saturated with oxygen in a special pressure chamber.

According to Professor Gainetdinov, you can make up for the missing oxygen level by performing simple physical activities. It is known that during physical activity, a large amount of this gas enters the bloodstream. In addition, training promotes neurogenesis-the restoration of nerve cells.

In the course of research, scientists have found that with the help of a diet, you can not change the amount of dopamine, but the amount of serotonin — you can. To do this, it is enough to eat foods with a high content of tryptophan-a substance that improves the quality of sleep, improves mood, is the most important neurotransmitter and protein component of all existing living organisms.

Tryptophan is found in nuts, milk, cheese, turkey, and bananas. Perhaps that is why they say that bananas improve your mood, and for a good night's sleep you need to drink a glass of milk at night. And, of course, due to the lack of these products in the diet, people who are engaged in weight loss often suffer from depression.

Now scientists are actively studying the" cousins " of dopamine and serotonin — trace amines and their receptors, in particular TAAR5. It has already been found out that these receptors are represented not only by the olfactory system, but also are associated with the parts of the brain responsible for emotions.

And since TAAR5 perceives the most unpleasant odors for a person, then his mood will not be very good. This can be corrected by blocking these receptors. For example, an excellent blocker is the substance timberol, which has the smell of resin of coniferous trees.

This unusual practice came to us from Silicon Valley, and it was invented by a psychologist Cameron Sepah. The essence of "starvation" is to consciously deprive yourself of the usual pleasures — delicious food, sex, alcohol, social networking, computer games, TV shows, and so on. This is necessary to avoid the peak of dopamine release for a while and allow the dopamine receptors to become more sensitive again. However, we have already talked in detail about what dopamine fasting is and what can be achieved with its help.

It is believed that after such a "diet", even the most insignificant joys a person will begin to perceive as something incredible! According to the professor, the isolation in which we all now find ourselves, to some extent, is also "dopamine starvation". When we can go to our favorite cafe again, meet friends, or just have a cup of coffee in the park,it will all feel very different.

And how do you deal with the" quarantine " melancholy?