According to Healthline, “350 million people worldwide suffer from depression.” This accounts for 5% of the world’s population. This is an astonishing number of people. With all the medications that are already in the health community and more developing, you would think this number would be less. What if there is something else that could help treat depression?

This is where the “love hormone” comes in. This hormone is actually just oxytocin, but it is called to love hormone for a reason. According to UC San Diego News Center, “In humans, oxytocin is released when they hug or experience other pleasant physical touch, and it plays a part in the human sexual response cycle,” The oxytocin that is released actually changes how the brain processes emotions. “It’s said that the eyes are the window to the soul…they certainly are the window to the emotional brain.  We know that the eye-to-eye communication, which is affected by oxytocin, is critical to intimate emotional communication for all kind of emotions – love, fear, trust, anxiety.” This impact on emotions shows that people with depression can begin to change their behavior and act in a way that shows their symptoms of depression have lessened.

However, there are many skeptics to this theory. According to Psychology Today
,  a “cure” was not possible for these disorders (depression) as oxytocin is only one of the contributing causes, and that simply replacing oxytocin in patients would have only limited effects.

In conclusion, having strong relationships with important people in your life is vital to having a better outlook, but it isn’t enough to completely cure depression.